The Wielder and The Container: Genesis
by Maeniel Celeres
Summary: One was sealed with a Sword from another Plane. The other was sealed with a Nine-tailed demon. On the night of the Kyuubi's attack, these two boy's fates were sealed. Main Pairings: Naruto and Hinata, OC and Tenten. Story 1 of 3
1. Prologue

**_The Wielder and The Container_**

**_By Maeniel Celeres_**

**Hiya Everyone, this is an idea I have had since I started reading Naruto Fanfiction. This is my first time writing one and I hope you all like it.**

**I cannot say when the next chapter will come, because I have a lot of coursework and A-Level exams to revise for. However, I will try to publish it as soon as I can. Enjoy!**

Discalimer: I do not own Naruto or Neverwinter Nights 2.

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**Prologue**

The screams of the fallen Ninja echoed around the Hidden Village of the Leaf as Minato Namikaze, better known as the Fourth Hokage, stood atop of Gamabunta, the chief of the Summoning toads glaring at his enemy with undisguised anger and hatred. The nine-tailed demon fox, the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha, bent on the village's destruction. Wave after wave of Konoha Ninja had fought against the demon, all trying to stop it from coming any closer to the Hidden Village, yet the demon just seemed to laugh off the efforts of these brave Ninja, crushing them all with its powers. Minato pulled his gaze away from the demon to look at his side where his sensei and student stood beside him. Kakashi Hatake and the Toad Sannin Jiraiya each shared the same glares that Minato had for the demon.

"The way this battle is going…there will no trace of Konoha by the time the sun rises. So what's the plan Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked taking his eyes away from the evil demon to stare at his sensei glumly. Jiraiya sighed, closing his eyes as he did so.

"I think we may as well accept that Raven Swordstalker isn't going to arrive in time to help us with the power of the Silver sword, so it looks like we have no other choice…" Minato sighed rubbing the back of his head as he did so. Jiraiya opened his eyes, turning to stare at his student with sadness evident in his eyes.

"But there has to be another way! What about the First Hokage's techniques, surely one of you must have learnt them?!" Kakashi cried desperately looking first at Jiraiya, then at his sensei. Jiraiya gave Kakashi a slightly peeved stare.

"If one of us could use the First Hokage's Nature techniques, do you honestly think we would be contemplating calling upon the Death God? No, we are completely out of options. We cannot wait any longer for Raven to arrive." Jiraiya sighed once more, as Kakashi hung his head, tears slowly coming down his face.

"I do however wish that you would change your mind Minato, and allow me to perform the summoning of the Death God and the sealing." Jiraiya said sadly as he looked at his student. The look on Minato's face was one of anger, determination and grief, grief not only for the fallen Ninja, but also for his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, whom had died giving birth to their son. The thought of Kushina's death was enough to cause the young Hokage to break down and wail at the injustice of what happened to her. However, Minato knew that as soon as he had performed the forbidden summoning technique, that he would join Kushina, whether she may be now. This allowed him to barely keep a control on his despair. Though he knew that performing this technique would leave his son an orphan, he hoped that Sarutobi would take care of him, making sure that the Villagers treated him like a Hero because of what Minato was about to do. He hoped that one day his son would forgive him for all the hardships he will have to go through. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Minato turned towards his sensei.

"No Jiraiya…This is something I have to do, I cannot ask someone else to do this. I am the Hokage of this village, and it is my duty to lay down my life to protect this village, and its people." Minato said his voice filled with determination. He then turned to Kakashi, his eyes softening as he looked at his crying student.

"Kakashi…please, bring me my son…" Minato whispered. Kakashi nodded and then headed off in the direction of the hospital where Minato's son was being kept. As soon as Kakashi had left, Hiashi Hyuuga landed on Gamabunta's head, bowing low to Minato and Jiraiya as soon as he had recovered from his landing.

"Lord Hokage, our men are at their limits, some are suffering from chakra exhaustion. What are your orders?" Hiashi said with no emotion. His pale eyes looked at Minato passively.

"Hiashi, order the men to fall back to the village, I'm taking over from here…" Minato said looking at his former team mate. Though Hiashi always insisted on being extremely formal, Minato always remained easy going. This irritated Hiashi to no end. However the two respected each other highly and were even close friends, though many wouldn't believe it when they saw them together.

In fact, Hiashi had asked Minato to be the Godfather to his first child, which his wife, Hannah, was currently seven months pregnant with.

"I will carry out your orders, Lord Hokage." Hiashi replied with the slightest hint of sadness in his voice. He knew exactly what his friend and former team mate was about to do and it saddened him greatly; however, he was the head of the Hyuuga clan and could not show any sign of weakness. As Hiashi made a move to convey Minato's orders, Minato suddenly shouted "Hiashi!"

Hiashi turned to look at his friend. Minato walked up to Hiashi and put his hand on the Hyuuga head's shoulder. They stood like that for a few moments, just staring at each other. Minato finally whispered

"No matter what happens in the future, please, once I'm gone, please, watch over my son, and treat him like the hero he is about to become…"

Hiashi nodded solemnly, putting his hand on Minato's shoulder.

"I will do as you ask Lord Hok-No Minato, as your friend, and brother in all but blood, I will honour your request." Hiashi said, letting go of his friends shoulder and turning away from his friend for the last time.

Jiraiya had watched all of this take place quietly, not wanting to intrude upon the goodbyes of the two friends. He looked down toward Gamabunta and said quietly

"Are you sure that there is absolutely nothing else that can be done?"

Gamabunta heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid not Jiraiya, since there is no one alive able to use the Nature art techniques any more, there are no ninja arts powerful enough to defeat _that _demon except for the Death God summoning, and even then, that won't kill it, you will only be able to seal it. If the head of the Swordstalker clan was here with the Silver sword, then we may have been able to kill it, or at least seal it without resorting to this. However, since he has not arrived, and since were running out of time, there are no options left." Gamabunta then sighed heavily once more. "I wish that there was something more that I could do. However, even I, the chief of Toads, can't stand for long against that Demons power."

Jiraiya sighed, rubbing his forehead protector as he did so. So it had come down to this. To say that he was upset over this was an understatement. Simply put, he did not want Minato to carry out this task. The young man deserved to live a long life with his family…or at least what remained of it, being a leader for the people of Konoha. Jiraiya had even offered to take Minato's place for the summoning of the Death God. However, Minato had refused, saying it was his duty to protect the Village as the Hokage. Though Jiraiya was upset over his decision, he couldn't help but feel overwhelming pride for his student. He really was a true Hokage, and would probably go down in history as one of the greatest to have ever lived. Jiraiya removed himself from his thoughts as Minato walked towards him.

"Well…I suppose this is goodbye Ero-senin." Minato said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Jiraiya fought down the tears that threatened to fall. He would not show any weakness, not in front of his student who was about to bravely face death.

"How many times have I asked you not to call me that Baka?!" Jiraiya said quietly to Minato, smiling sadly at his student.

"And how many times have I told you I won't stop until you stop being a pervert?" Minato said smirking evilly.

Jiraiya snorted "It is research for my books; I have to keep my readers happy otherwise they won't sell."

Minato then burst out laughing, and soon afterwards, Jiraiya joined him. For a few moments they both forgot about what was currently happening around them. However reality cruelly reared its ugly head when a wave of chakra shot towards them. Gamabunta hopped out of the way, making both Minato and Jiraiya stumble. They quickly focused chakra into their feet to keep themselves on Gamabunta's head as he landed back to the ground.

"Damn you, you pathetic excuse for a Demon, just try that again!" Gamabunta cursed at the Kyuubi, which probably wasn't the brightest idea as the Kyuubi swung his tails once more sending another wave of chakra towards them. Gamabunta hopped out of the way again, cursing as he landed. Just then, Kakashi arrived carrying the bundle that was Minato's child. Minato moved quickly towards Kakashi.

"I guess it's now or never…" Minato said taking his son from the distraught Kakashi. He took his stare away from his son to look at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, you are one of the best students I have ever had, and I know you will become a great Ninja. When I am gone, please help Jiraiya and Hiashi watch over my son."

Kakashi nodded, determined with the tears still flowing down his face. Minato turned away and nodded to Jiraiya. Without a word, Jiraiya leapt off of Gamabunta's head, heading towards a safe vantage point, Kakashi following after a few moments of staring at his sensei. Minato, after watching them for a few moments finally looked back down at his son. His son was sleeping peacefully in his arms, despite the chaos that was going on around them, despite the fact that Gamabunta had hopped out of the way of another of the Kyuubi's chakra waves, causing the demon fox to roar out in anger and frustration.

Gods, but he wished he did not have to give his son this terrible burden. He just hoped that the village would treat him like a hero, and that he would one day forgive him for what he was about to do.

"Naruto, I am so sorry that I cannot be there for you…Forgive me…" Minato whispered, tears silently flowing down his face. Steeling himself for what he had to do, Minato ordered Gamabunta to move towards the Kyuubi, to perform the techniques that will not only save his village, but will also shape his sons destiny

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Raven Swordstalker dodged the enemy ninja's barrage of kunai, and then thrust his sword into the ground, focusing his chakra into the blade.

"**Sword Art: Climhazzard!**"

A line of chakra burst from the blade, heading towards the enemy ninja, leaving an after trail in the ground. The line of chakra struck the ninja killing three of them instantly and sending four others flying into the walls of the Swordstalker estate. Quickly pulling his sword out of the ground, Raven spun around to meet the charge of an ANBU-level ninja. Raven parried the first strike aiming for his head, and then countered immediately, spinning to thrust the sword into his opponent's chest. The smoke from the ANBU's replacement technique distracted Raven long enough for the ANBU to perform a technique.

"**Earth Art: Impaling Rock Technique!**"

Raven managed to jump out of the way just as the ground around him shot up towards him. The place where he was once standing was covered in huge rock spikes. Acting quickly, Raven swept his hand over his sword focusing his chakra into the blade.

"**Sword Art Element: Tempest!**"

Lightning chakra suddenly surrounded the blade. The ANBU was surprised as Raven disappeared from sight. Just as the ANBU turned to look behind him, a blade shot through his back, coming out in front of the ANBU's chest. The ANBU stared down at the blade in disbelief before coughing up a bloody froth from his mouth. Raven removed his sword quickly, spinning to meet the rest of his opponent's. The ANBU fell slowly down to the earth below, blood bursting from his chest. The ninja whom had watched this fight from a distance suddenly felt apprehensive about facing this old man with a sword which had Lightning flowing around it. While the enemy ninja had killed the rest of the Swordstalker clan easily in their sleep, Raven had not even been noticeably wounded. He had killed twenty of the forty ninja sent to carry out the assassination on the family and had not even showed a sign of tiredness. The way the old man had killed the ANBU ninja whom had been the Team leader for this mission so easily had also drove fear into the hearts of some of the ninja. One however glared at the old man with nothing short of rage. He coolly studied the old man. Raven had black hair which was showing signs of ageing; his eyes were a dark brown, dark enough to be mistaken for black. An old, vicious scar stretched from his cheek down to his chin. The white robes he wore with the crest of the Swordstalker clan were the only thing that showed any damage at all. They had rips all over from where kunai and shuriken had swept past him, and was even singed in some parts from the ninja's use of fire techniques. A belt was clipped around his waist with two sword scabbards, one for the sword he was holding now, while the other still had a sword in it. However, the hilt was covered in cloth, making it impossible to tell what kind of sword it was since the old man had not even drawn it once. Seeing Raven just standing there calmly looking at them just infuriated the ninja more, and without thinking, he drew five kunai with explosive notes on them and tossed them at him. Raven saw the kunai coming and disappeared again. The kunai exploded as they hit the ground where Raven once was. The ninja whom had thrown the kunai looked wildly around him, trying to find the old man. There was a sudden scream behind him and as the ninja spun around, he was met with the edge of a Katana slashing his face. As soon as Raven had dealt with the one whom had thrown the Kunai, he made a move towards the rest of them. However, the badly shaken ninja panicked and out of desperation they all moved to attack him at once. Seeing he was outnumbered, Raven calmly lifted his sword up and pointed it at the bigger group of ninja. He then focused on the Lightning chakra around his sword.

"**Tempest Release: Chain Lightning!**"

The Lightning chakra suddenly focused to the tip of the sword then fired a bolt of lightning directly at the ninja he was pointing at. The lightning bolt struck the ninja in the chest, killing him instantly; however, the lightning bolt did not stop there. The bolt of lightning branched off and shot towards the ninja on either side of the one who had been killed. This set up a continuous chain, some ninja screaming before they were struck by a lightning bolt, until finally all the remaining ninja lay dead around him. Stopping the chakra flow of the lightning bolt, Raven grimly cleaned his sword with the sleeve of his robe and placed it back into its scabbard. Only then did he let the reality of what happened hit him. His entire clan were dead, killed in their sleep by Rock-nin who were looking for revenge against them for joining Konoha's side during the last great ninja war. If he had not been awake training, he would have probably been killed as well. As he looked over the dead around him, pain suddenly shot from his arm. Hissing he quickly lifted the sleeve of his robe up to look at where the pain had come from. Right on his forearm was a small cut where a shuriken had grazed him earlier. It wouldn't have bothered him normally; however, dripping from the wound was what looked like green blood. Raven cursed, the shuriken must have been poisoned, and he recognised this poison. It was a very rare poison that once in the blood stream, could not be stopped. Once it had spread throughout the body, it slowly shut down the nerve system until finally, the victim died. There was no known cure for this poison, and since the Medic Sanin Tsunade wasn't around, he knew that he was going to die. The Hidden Village of Rock must have spent a small fortune on trying to get this poison. Resigning himself to his fate, he grimly moved towards the ruins of the Swordstalker clan house. It was very unlikely, but he desperately wanted to find survivors. He entered the clan house, only to pause in despair as he saw the bodies of the Swordstalker guards. All had their throats slit, the blood that had spurted from the wounds already drying up. Their eyes stared at him, completely lifeless, open only because of the shock of the Rock-nin's attack. Raven fought back the tears as he moved past their bodies, offering silent prayers to Kami for their souls. It was the least he could do as the head of the Swordstalker clan. He moved down the corridor checking every room he passed. He was greeted only by the same sight as that of the guards in the Corridor. Despair clutched at his heart as he saw every member of his clan, no his family, lying where they slept, their eyes lifeless except for the shock of meeting their deaths. What affected Raven the most though, was seeing the lifeless eyes of the children. None had been spared; some had even been beaten before they died. The sight was enough to nearly break Raven completely. After what seemed like hours, Raven finally came to the last room. This was the room he dreaded checking the most. Hesitating for a moments, Raven finally opened the door. The sight made him fall to his knees and cry out in despair.

_Not my son. Please Kami, why my son?!_

His son, Aldiric, lay on the bed he shared with his wife Melinda. He would have mistaken them both to be sleeping peacefully, had it not been the dried blood that was covered on the bed sheets, the blood that had spurted from their slit throats. Raven turned his tear stained face to the crib which held his grandson, Tarek. The crib had been knocked over, and there was no baby inside. Raven clenched his teeth, and then let out his battle cry. It expressed the pain and anger he felt for the deaths of his entire clan. Suddenly, he stopped as he heard a babies cry. Hope swelling in his chest, he turned towards the direction where the sound was coming from. In the farthest corner of the room lay some sheets, sheets which were moving. Scrambling to his feet, Raven ran towards the bundle of sheets and gently parted them. Laying there bawling inside the bundle was his grandson, aged only 3 months with his fathers brown eyes. Raven gently picked up his grandson, tears of joy flowing down his face.

_Thank Kami…Thank Kami!_

Holding him close in fear of losing him, Raven slowly cradled the young baby, calming him down.

"Shh…I'm here; your grandfather is here…" Raven said, his voice cracking with a mixture of joy and despair. A sudden throb of pain shot through his entire right arm, and it nearly made Raven drop Tarek. This made his grandson start bawling worse than ever. Cursing mentally, Raven realised that the poison was spreading which meant he didn't have a lot of time. He knew what he had to do, but he wished he didn't have to carry out the task. For it was placing a great burden on his grandson. Knowing he had no choice lest the clans enemies come after his grandson, Raven grabbed the sheets where he had found Tarek and then made a makeshift bed out of them. While all this was going on, Tarek had stopped bawling and just stared at his grandfather, even when placed on the make shift bed. Raven then stood over his grandson and performed a few hand-signs. A drawing made of chakra suddenly appeared on Tarek's stomach. It was a complex drawing, all interweaving except for the middle where there appeared to be a blank spot, as if something was suppose to fill it in. Satisfied with the chakra drawing, Raven grabbed the sword on his belt, the one with the cloth around the hilt, and drew it. The reason became apparent immediately as he drew a sword with a blade of pure, glowing silver. Untying the cloth from around the hilt to reveal a golden hilt with three rubies, Raven studied the sword. This sword was the Swordstalker clans deepest secret. The Silver Sword of Gith, a sword that had come from another plane of existence and was arguably the most powerful object in the entire world. Only five people outside the clan knew about this sword, and they were all great Konoha ninja who had proved they could be trusted. Placing the sword down next to his grandson, Raven performed the same hand seals he had performed only moments ago. The same drawing appeared around the silver sword. The blank spot that was on Tarek's stomach was filled by the Silver sword in this drawing, thus completing the complex design. Satisfied, Raven drew his other sword and thrust it into the ground focusing some of the chakra he had left into the blade.

"**Divine Seal: Silver Sword Sealing Technique!**"

Both drawing's suddenly flashed blinding silver, forcing Raven to shut his eyes. As the flash dissipated, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at his handiwork. The silver sword and the second drawing had disappeared completely. However, the drawing on Tarek's stomach was glowing pure silver, and the blank spot was now filled with an image of the silver sword. Raven had just sealed the silver sword inside of Tarek's body. The sealing had not affected Tarek at all, as he continued to stare up at his grandfather. Satisfied, Raven pulled his sword from the ground and put it back into its scabbard. He suddenly doubled over in pain. The poison had spread to his chest. Knowing he was running out of time, he hoped that someone from Konoha will come and find his grandson. Now, Raven began performing more hand seals to ensure that he will be there to protect Tarek from danger.

Little did he know that on that night, he had sealed his grandson's fate, and that his grandson's name will become a name among legends.

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**Well I hope you all enjoyed the Prologue. Please tell me what you all think.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Well heres the next chapter, earlier than I thought, but I decided to work on it all day. Hope you all enjoy. **

**Don't expect another chapter for a while, I sacrificed a day to do school work to dothis, so Im going to be quite busy the next week or so.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neverwinter Nights 2

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**Chapter 1**

_**5 Years after the Kyuubi's attack...**_

It was a beautiful summer's day in the Hidden Village of the Leaf. A light breeze was sweeping across the peaceful village as the people of the village carried out their daily routines. The village that had been nearly destroyed by the nine-tailed demon fox five years ago had finally recovered to its former glory, and was now beginning to prosper once more. Though the attack still lay heavily on the minds of the ninja and villagers, especially those who had lost loved ones, some had been able to put the past behind them and continue with their lives, looking forwards to the hopes and dreams of the future. However, there were others who could only live in the past, and like a festering wound, they let their hatred and fear for the Kyuubi lead their lives. At this moment in time, a small group of these people were chasing after a young five year old boy with radiant, spiky blond hair and azure coloured eyes. The boy's t-shirt and shorts were ripped and worn the signs of previous beatings evident. The thing that made this boy stand out from any other five year old was the three pairs of whisker marks on the boy's cheeks. The young boy ran as fast as he could, fearful of what the mob were going to do to him if they caught him. He didn't understand why they hated him when he had done nothing to harm any of them. What he didn't realise was that his only crime was being the Container for the Kyuubi. Though the Fourth Hokage had asked that Naruto be looked upon as a hero, the mob only saw him as the demon that had taken their loved ones, and killed their beloved Hokage. The only thing on their mind was the death of the innocent boy they chased after.

"Demon-spawn!" a man in the crowd shouted.

"Go back to hell where you belong!" another bellowed.

Their hateful words struck Naruto deep, and as he slipped down an alley, tears began to flow down his face. Sobbing, the young boy continued to run down the route he had taken until he hit a dead end. Crying desperately, Naruto tried to climb the six-foot wall, but to no avail. He turned around fearfully facing the mob in front of him, their killing intent washing over him in waves. As the mob moved forwards, Naruto backed up until his back was pressed against the wall.

"This is revenge for all the people you killed demon!" a woman shrieked at him.

"Prepare for your journey back to hell!" a Leaf-nin shouted, brandishing a Kunai.

Sobbing, Naruto sank to the ground, covering his head, bracing himself for the beatings and wounds he was about to receive.As the mob moved forwards to carry out Naruto's death, a young boy the same age as Naruto pushed his way through them and positioned himself between them and Naruto, his arms opened wide.

"Stop this!" the young boy shouted at the mob.

The mob paused as they studied the boy standing between them and their prey. The boy had dark brown hair that could have easily been mistaken for black had the sun not been shining upon the alley they were in. A pair of heavily tinted sunglasses covered his eyes from view. The boy wore a white t-shirt and blue trousers which had obviously seen better days. Realising that he had not been harmed yet, Naruto looked up, seeing the boy with his back to him, arms outstretched as if he was protecting him. Naruto was astonished. No one had ever defended him before. A Leaf-nin who seemed to be the ring leader stepped towards the boy.

"Move boy, this is none of your concern." The ring leader said looking down at the boy.

"No I won't." the boy replied stubbornly.

The leader was taken aback by the boy's refusal. Scowling at him, he stared intently into the heavily tinted sunglasses. The boy just stared right back at him, his face set in determination.

"Listen to me boy. The thing behind you is a demon from hell. He killed hundreds of innocent people and the Hokage five years ago. He is nothing but a monster!"

The words made Naruto's eyes tear up. He wasn't a monster, he wasn't Naruto kept telling himself. The words, instead of scaring the boy like the leader thought they would only made him scowl.

"He is not a monster; he is just a kid like me!" The boy shouted through gritted teeth.

The leader growled in frustration, while the mob behind him muttered angrily to one another.

"I am not going to stand here and argue with you boy now move out of the way before I force you to." The leader threatened quietly. The boy shook his head no, standing firmly between him and Naruto. Losing his temper, the leader struck the boy. Surprised, the boy fell backwards, his glasses falling off his face in the process. The leader froze as he caught sight of the boy's eyes. They were a shimmering silver colour. Stepping back fearfully, he couldn't take his eyes away from the boy's which were continually shimmering. Standing back up slowly, the boy again stood firmly and held his arms to prevent them from getting at Naruto. Naruto had watched all of this in shock. He couldn't believe it. The boy had taken the blow and then had gotten straight back, defending him once again. He didn't understand why the leader stared at the boy fearfully but he was sure it must have something to do with the boy's eyes since as soon as he caught sight of them, his facial expression turned from anger to fear. Naruto wondered why the boy's eyes would scare the mob leader so much. The mob wondering why their leader had stepped away from the boy studied him intently. As soon as they caught sight of his eyes they all gasped. Some took a step back like the leader had, their eyes widened in fear. Others just stood there completely dumbfounded. All couldn't take their eyes away from the boy's.

_Now I'm in trouble. _The boy thought staring at the mob. The reason he wore the sunglasses given to him by the Hokage was to keep his eyes hidden from the rest of the village. There was a very good reason for this, and sure enough a woman in the front of the mob suddenly pointed at him.

"Oh Kami, another demon!" The woman screamed in fear.

This seemed to bring the mob and the leader back to their senses. All of their faces suddenly changed from fear to a mixture of both that and hatred. The leader pulled out his Kunai.

"Kill both of the demons; send them to hell where they belong!" The leader roared. Roaring in agreement, the mob surged forwards towards the two boys'. For the first time during the whole confrontation, the boy's eyes widened in fear. The leader tossed his Kunai at the young boy. Time seemed to slow as the throwing knife flew towards him. Just as the Kunai was about to hit him in the chest, there was a blinding flash of silver forcing Naruto and the mob to cover their eyes. As soon as the flash dissipated, they all opened their eyes only to stare in astonishment and in the mobs case in fear at the sight before them. Spinning around the boy was a barrier of silver…something's. They were spinning so quickly that all the mob and Naruto could see was the silver after trail of the objects. The Kunai that the leader had tossed at the boy lay on the ground, the edge completely gone leaving only the handle. The boy, who had had his eyes closed the entire time, opened them and did a double take as he saw the barrier spinning around him. He stared at it mesmerised. As soon as the boy opened his eyes, the mob all gasped in horror. His eyes seemed to be on fire, not a normal fire, but a silver fire. He didn't even seem to notice that his eyes were on fire, and this only frightened the mob even more. Finally breaking his gaze from the fearful sight, the mob leader took a step back, then another, then before anyone could react, he spun around and sprinted away, pushing through the mob in his bid to escape the demon. As he pushed himself out of the back of the mob, he froze as he found himself face to face with a Hyuuga, the Hokage and a squad of thirty ANBU members. The Hokage and the Hyuuga who he suddenly realised was Hiashi, the head of the clan, looked at him, barely controlled rage evident in their eyes. Hiashi took a menacing step forward only to be stopped by Sarutobi, the third Hokage. Then the Hokage took a step forward and stared into the mob leader's eyes, but addressed the whole mob.

"You are all under arrest for breaking an S-Class law and for attempting to kill two children. Any resistance will be met with execution." The Hokage said icily, the rage at the mobs actions evident in his frosty tone. The mob, stunned to hear the voice of their Hokage took their eyes away from the boy with the silver barrier and faced their Hokage, too stunned to understand the implications of what he said. Relief rushed through the two boys's as they realised that they were saved. There was a sudden silver flash, which forced everyone to cover their eyes. As it dissipated, Hiashi and the third Hokage opened their eyes and looked at the boy. The silver barrier that had once surrounded him had now disappeared, and he was now on the floor, clutching his stomach as if he was in pain. Hiashi moved towards the boy, pushing his way through the crowd. However, before he got there, Naruto had already gotten to him, and was helping him from the ground. Hiashi paused, interested to see what would happen.

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice.

The boy nodded, slowly standing up straight. The pain had disappeared as quickly as it had struck. The boy then turned his head to look at Naruto. Naruto saw the silver eyes and just stared in astonishment. As the two stared at each other silently, the third Hokage ordered the ANBU to arrest the mob. As the thirty ANBU members handcuffed each member of the mob and pulled them out of the alley, the third Hokage walked towards Hiashi and stood beside him watching as the two young boys stared at each other. Finally, Naruto smiled one of his foxy grins and held out his hand to the boy. Startled, the boy took it and they shook hands.

"Thanks a lot, for a moment; I thought I had had it. Names Naruto Uzumaki, What's your name?" Naruto inquired loudly.

The silver eyed boy couldn't believe it. Naruto hadn't run away from him or tried to hurt him or even call him names. He only looked at him in surprise before offering his hand for a handshake and then thanking him and asking his name. This had never happened before when someone other then the Hokage had seen his eyes and he half suspected Naruto to say or do something. However after staring into his eyes for a moment and realising the boy was genuinely grateful, the boy smiled.

"My name is Tarek, Tarek Swordstalker." Tarek said shaking Naruto's hand once more.

"Wow! That's a brilliant last name!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

Tarek winced at Naruto's overly loud voice, but smiled, to glad to finally have someone his age to talk to. Naruto was thinking exactly the same thing.

_Maybe I will finally have a friend_. Naruto thought as he smiled at Tarek.

"Thank you very much." Tarek said quietly.

"By the way, that was one really cool Jutsu you did back there, how did you do it?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tarek couldn't answer him since he didn't know himself how it had happened, or that he could do something like that.

Deciding to steer the conversation away from the topic, at least for now, The Hokage frowned as he looked at the condition on Naruto's clothing.

"Naruto, why are you out here without your Matron?" The Hokage asked, already guessing the answer. Naruto's smile faltered, and he looked towards the ground.

"Matron Matsuri kicked me out. She said that she didn't want a monster endangering the children." Naruto said quietly.

The Hokage sighed. He should have known that the Orphanage wouldn't want to keep him any longer than they had to. They had not been happy about accepting him, calling him a demon and a monster, and since the agreement was only for five years, he couldn't punish the orphanage for kicking Naruto out. Suddenly he looked sharply at Tarek.

"Why aren't you with your foster parents Tarek?" The Hokage asked.

Tarek looked anywhere but at the old mans eyes. "My foster mother took off my glasses and saw my eyes" was all Tarek said. That was all the Hokage needed however. Sighing he turned to look at Hiashi. Though Hiashi stood rigid, with no emotion on his face, his eyes told the Hokage just how angry he was. He thought back to the council meeting five years ago when they were trying to decide Naruto's fate the day after the Kyuubi attack.

_

* * *

Flashback_

_The council members and Sarutobi, now reinstated Hokage, sat around the large table, waiting for Jiraiya and Kakashi to arrive. They had been there at the last moments of the battle, and the council members wished __to know what had happened. Sarutobi glanced around the table, looking at each council member in turn, finally resting his gaze on Hiashi. The Hyuuga Clan head just stared at the table, his eyes completely unreadable. However, Sarutobi could tell he was in grief, grief over the loss of his best friend and his best friend's wife. Sarutobi sighed melancholy. He too couldn't believe that the couple were now gone, and was feeling the grief over their deaths much like Hiashi. However, he knew that he had to be strong for the rest of the village, who had also lost loved ones. Grieving could wait. Sarutobi was shaken out of his thoughts when the door to the council room opened admitting Jiraiya and Kakashi. In Jiraiya's arms was the cloth bundled form of Minato's son, Naruto. This caused a mixed reaction. Some council members just stared solemnly at the bundle; others were outraged, saying the demon should be killed here and now. This made Hiashi and Kakashi furious, and this started an all out argument as one side claimed that Naruto should be killed before he became a danger, while the other side insisted that nothing like that would happen and Naruto had the right to live. As soon as they two sides began resorting to threats, Sarutobi decided that enough was enough and slammed the wooden hammer down on the table, silencing all the council members, though some continued to glare at each other. Throughout all of this, the bundle that was Naruto slept entirely through it, not even waking up to the sound of the hammer._

"_We will make one thing clear right now, Naruto will not be killed, he is an innocent child who carries a great burden and as the Fourth Hokage wished, he should be treated like a hero."_

"_I refuse to accept a demon as a hero." The Inuzuka clan head said abruptly, receiving many agreements among the council members who wanted Naruto dead. Sarutobi glanced at Jiraiya whom had narrowed his eyes at the Inuzuka clan head. Sarutobi could tell that Jiraiya was furious that the fourths wishes could be discounted so easily. Glancing around, he noticed that Hiashi and Kakashi had similar looks on their faces as well. Sarutobi rested his gaze upon the Inuzuka head, but spoke to the council as a whole._

"_He will not be killed, and that is the end of the matter__." Sarutobi said with a tone of finality. Those who opposed this glared at him, but he ignored them._

"_Jiraiya, Kakashi, would you please give your report on what happened on the battlefield. Jiraiya and Kakashi both nodded. They told the council about what occurred on top of Gamabunta's head, and the sealing afterwards. After hearing their reports on the battle, Fugaku Uchiha frowned._

"_I think we now have to ask the question. Where was the Swordstalker clan during this entire attack, why didn't they come to our aid?" He said, still frowning. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Hiashi and Sarutobi looked at each other. It was a question they had asked themselves the whole night._

"_I have sent a squad of ANBU to the Swordstalker Clan estates, they will find out why they didn't come to aid us. However, I feel we can discount betrayal, since they have proven time and time again that they are trustworthy allies." Sarutobi said. The council members nodded in agreement._

"_Moving on, we now must decide on where Naruto is going to live." Sarutobi said glancing at Hiashi. Hiashi stood up and looked around the council table._

"_I made a promise to the Fourth Hokage that I would look after his son, therefore, I will adopt Naruto into the Hyuuga clan." He stated, daring anyone to argue. Fugaku stood up, he had an angry scowl on his face._

"_I do not agree with this. You will only use the demon for your own gains; therefore he should not be adopted by the Hyuuga clan." The majority of the council nodded at this while the rest tried to argue that it was the best for Naruto to live with the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi glared at Fugaku, furious that he had stopped him from raising Naruto as his own son and for calling him a demon._

"_Then I will adopt him, he is my sensei's son and I also promised to look after him." Kakashi said looking at the small bundle in Jiraiya's arms._

_Fugaku however protested against this. "You are an ANBU Captain, and therefore do not have the time to look after a demon, and since you will be needed now that the village is recovering, you cannot resign your post." Fugaku said smugly. The majority again agreed with this, leaving the other side furious. Hiashi by now was gritting his teeth angrily. Sarutobi sighed and glanced at Jiraiya. He knew Jiraiya would not offer to take care of the child, so that left only one option._

"_In that case, we will place Naruto in an orphanage to be cared for by the Matron's there. Is this agreed?" Sarutobi asked while glancing at Fugaku. Before anyone could say anything however, an ANBU member opened the door and walked up to the Hokage, whispering in his ear. Sarutobi paled at what he heard and stood up immediately._

"_I have just received disturbing news. The Swordstalker clan are all dead." Sarutobi said clearly shaken. There was silence as the council members all stared at the Hokage in shock. Finally Kakashi shook himself the shock._

"_How?" he asked quietly._

"_Rock-nin. They killed everyone down to the last woman and child. However, it looks like there was some resistance as forty Rock-nin were found dead in the estate. Raven Swordstalker's body was nowhere to be found however." Sarutobi replied. _

_The silence lasted a lot longer as everyone took in this recent development. Hiashi finally asked the question on everyone's mind._

"_Were there any survivors?"_

_Sarutobi took a deep breath._

"_There was one." With that statement, he nodded to the ANBU who had given him the news. The ANBU walked to the door and spoke quietly to someone outside the door. Another ANBU walked in carrying a baby. As soon as Sarutobi saw the child's eyes and the seal on his stomach, he knew exactly who it was and what had happened to him._

_End of Flashback_

* * *

The third Hokage sighed. The council had argued over what to do with the child, and Hiashi had offered again to adopt Naruto, but also to adopt Tarek. However, Fugaku again scoffed at the idea, and everyone was forced to agree that they would both go into different orphanages. Tarek had been adopted about three months ago, but it seemed that after his foster mother found out about his eyes, she no longer wanted him. Now both boys were homeless and had nowhere to go. Hiashi turned to face the Hokage, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the third cut him off.

"You know that the Uchiha clan will just stop you again, so I'm afraid you can't take them in Hiashi."

Hiashi gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew what the Hokage said was true, but he hated it. Aldiric and Minato had both been his closest friends, and knowing that he couldn't look after their children made him furious. Sarutobi was trying to think of a solution to the problem when suddenly he had it. Smiling to himself, he looked at both Tarek and Naruto. Both boy's had listened to the conversation between Hiashi and the Hokage intently.

"Naruto, Tarek, come with me, we need to go to the Hokage tower. We have many things to discuss, one of which is where you two are going to live." Sarutobi said grinning.

Hiashi looked at the Hokage sharply and saw his smiling face. What did he have planned? As the Hokage turned to go down the alley, he paused and looked back to the three behind him.

"Come along then, we have much to discuss." Sarutobi called, and continued onwards.

Baffled, Naruto, Tarek and Hiashi followed after the Hokage, not knowing that Naruto and Tarek's fates had just been entwined together.

* * *

**Well hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I probably shouldn't have introduced them this fast, but I honestly thought this was a good idea. Review and tell me what you think please.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hiya guys, well I finally managed to get this chapter done so I hope you all enjoy.**

**I want to say thank you to all those that have reviewed and favourited the Story so far, and I hope you continue to give your support to this story. This chapter is longer than the other two, so enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neverwinter Nights 2

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**Chapter 2**

_**8 Years after the Kyuubi's attack...**_

To say Tarek was getting annoyed would be an understatement. He had tried almost everything and absolutely nothing had worked. Rubbing the back of his short dark-brown hair, Tarek glared at the form of the sleeping Naruto. It was already ten in the morning and Naruto was still out like a light! They were going to be late for their first day at the Konoha Ninja academy if he didn't get him up soon. At the thought of the Ninja academy, Tarek couldn't help but smile in excitement. Today would be the first step to his dream, the day he would become a ninja-in-training. Tarek's smile turned to a scowl as he glanced back at the sleeping Naruto. Correction, it would be the first step, provided he could wake his lazy friend.

"Naruto I swear, if you don't get out of this bed right now your going to regret it!" Tarek threatened. Naruto just slept on, oblivious to the threat. Finally losing his patience, Tarek left his friends bedroom and walked towards the kitchen. Grabbing a jug from one of the cupboards, he filled it to the brim with cold water. He then walked back into Naruto's bedroom and stood over him. Pausing for a moment, he waited to see if there was any sign of Naruto waking up by himself. Realising that he was not going to wake up anytime soon, Tarek poured the contents of the jug over Naruto's head. Naruto shot out of bed with a curse, crashing into the floor as he did so. Soaking wet, cursing and rubbing the spot where he had hit his head on the floor, Naruto turned a heated glare towards his friend, who stood there with the jug in his hand smirking.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto shouted angrily at his friend.

Tarek shrugged "I just spent the last ten minutes trying everything I could think of to wake you up. In the end, you forced me to resort to this." Tarek emphasised the jug.

Naruto continued to glare at him "That still doesn't explain why you woke me up in the first place, we did spend the whole of yesterday training you know!"

Tarek just stared at his friend in disbelief. There was no way he could have forgotten what day it was.

_Then again, this is Naruto were talking about here_

Snorting at the thought, Tarek brought his attention back to Naruto.

"Naruto, you do remember what day it is today right?" Tarek said arching an eyebrow.

Naruto stared at Tarek for a long moment, puzzlement evident in his eyes. Then his eyes slowly widened as he remembered what day it was.

"Shit!" Naruto swore as he got up from the floor and bolted past Tarek towards the shower. As soon as Tarek heard the sound of the water being turned on, he sighed and left Naruto's bedroom, closing the door behind him. Rubbing the back of his head, he moved back to the kitchen. Putting the jug beside the sink, Tarek leaned back against the counter, waiting for Naruto to finish getting ready. It had been three years since the day they had both met and Tarek had found out exactly what that silver barrier was, though to Tarek it only seemed like yesterday. He smiled warmly at all that had happened and unconsciously thought back to the meeting in the Hokage tower after the incident with the mob.

_Flashback_

_Tarek stared apprehensively at the Hokage as he asked both Naruto and Tarek to sit down in the chairs that had been placed in front of his desk, smiling gently at the both of them. Though Tarek had been in the Hokage's office several times before now, he still always felt a little uncomfortable in here, and those were only over minor matters. This time they were dealing with something very serious, and Tarek's heart was pounding heavily in his chest because of this. He glanced towards Naruto and noticed him fidgeting in his seat. He was obviously just as apprehensive as Tarek was. Tarek then turned his eyes towards the Hyuuga clan head. Hiashi was standing beside the Hokage looking at both children, no emotion evident on his visage. However, the part of the Hyuuga clan head that Tarek was interested in was his eyes. Noticing Tarek's stare, Hiashi studied Tarek a few moments. Tarek was startled to see sadness suddenly appear in the Hyuuga heads eyes as he looked at him._

_After a few moments of awkward silence, the third Hokage cleared his throat. This broke the gazes that Tarek and Hiashi held, and both looked at the Hokage. Naruto stopped looking down and looked up at the Hokage as well._

"_Now then, before we discuss your living arrangements, there is something of the utmost importance that I must first tell you both. It concerns the incident in the alley." The Third said his expression changed to one of utmost seriousness._

_Tarek's eyes widened and he leaned in a bit closer. He knew that this must concern the silver barrier that had protected him from harm. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Naruto was also looking at the Hokage with burning interest._

"_First, I want to assure you that the mob that attacked you both will be heavily punished for their crimes. What they were doing was wrong and inhumane, and I promise you they will never do that again."_

_Tarek couldn't help but feel some satisfaction over that news. He didn't understand why they had attacked Naruto like that however, he knew deep down that what they were doing was wrong and was glad that he had done the right thing by intervening. He glanced at Naruto, and saw the sadness in his eyes, which only made Tarek wonder whether or not the incident with the mob had happened to him before. He was suddenly taken aback when Naruto began to grin, and the momentary sadness in his eyes disappeared. Tarek narrowed his eyes. How could his expression change so quickly?_

"_Now" the Hokage continued pulling Tarek away from his thoughts._

"_You are probably both curious about what happened back in the alley. Now I want you to both know that what I am about to reveal to the two of you is one of the two greatest secrets of Konoha. Because of this I will require an oath from you Naruto."_

_Naruto looked at the Hokage startled. _

"_Why?" He questioned._

"_Because this secret concerns Tarek, and I need to know that I can trust you to keep it to yourself, his life could be put into great danger if it is revealed to the wrong person." The Hokage said gravely._

_Naruto and Tarek both looked at the Hokage in surprise. What the Hokage had just said made Tarek wonder whether or not he still wanted to know about it or not. He took his stare away from the Hokage and glanced at Naruto. Could this boy he only just met be trusted with a secret that not even he knew about? Tarek then thought back to the alley and how Naruto had accepted him even with his silver eyes. He smiled. If Naruto could accept him for that then, yes, he could trust Naruto with the secret that was about to be revealed to the two of them. Naruto stared at the Hokage a few moments before finally nodding._

"_I will take the oath." Naruto said, determination running deep in his voice._

"_Then here are the terms of the oath. You must promise me that what I am about to reveal to you will not be revealed to anyone outside of this room unless you have my or Tarek's permission. The only person you can discuss this secret with is Tarek himself, and anyone else that Tarek deems trustworthy. Do you accept the terms?"_

_Naruto nodded immediately after the Hokage asked the question. The Hokage inclined his head to him before turning his gaze to Tarek._

"_Tarek" The third Hokage began "Five Years ago, you were orphaned from a terrible battle at your families home. An ANBU squad found you alone in your parent's room. You were brought back to Konoha and after much debate; the council put you in the orphanage that you stayed at until about three months ago." The Hokage paused staring at Tarek sadly. Tarek had tears flowing down his face. He knew deep down that he had no family left, however, he never gave up the hope that maybe he still had at least one family member left, and that they would eventually come for him. Now however, his hopes were crushed. He knew enough about his clan-no his family to know that there were no other branches, that they all stayed on the same estate. He really was all alone in the world. The orphanage kids had never wanted to bond with him because they were always frightened of his silver eyes, and the Matrons had always been cold towards him, calling him an abomination. Whenever a couple had come wanting to adopt a child, he was never picked, never until three months ago. He could still remember the kind faces of the couple as they talked to him and got to know him better. When they had picked him, he was overjoyed; he felt that finally, he would have a family. Once they had got outside the orphanage however, his new mother had taken his glasses off, saying she wanted to see the 'beautiful' eyes of her own son. As soon as she had caught sight of his eyes, she had screamed, calling him an abomination. As soon as her husband had seen his eyes, he had tried to kill him. Scared and hurt, Tarek had run away and had been living on the streets ever since. He broke out into sobs as he let all the pain and loneliness wash over him. After a few moments, he felt a warm hand patting his back. Startled, his tears suddenly dried up and he glanced upwards to see Naruto standing beside him, his expression one of sadness and his eyes gleaming with unshed tears. Tarek didn't understand. Why would Naruto feel sad for him? Seeing his look of puzzlement, the third Hokage decided to explain._

"_Naruto is much like you Tarek. His entire family was killed in an attack on the village five years ago, on the same night that your family were killed."_

_Tarek stared at Naruto in shock. Did this mean that Naruto had gone through the same things that he had? Figuring this out, Tarek suddenly felt a rush of warmth for Naruto flow through him. If Naruto had gone through exactly the same thing's that Tarek had, then that meant he wasn't alone. He smiled at Naruto and nodded. Naruto gave Tarek one of his fox grins in return. Seeing them both smiling made the Hokage and even Hiashi smile, and the Hokage took this as a sign to continue._

"_However, that was not the end of the matter, for something happened to you on that night Tarek." The Hokage said, his smile being replaced with a grave look. Hiashi's smile had also faded, returning to his stoic visage. Hearing this had brought Tarek and Naruto's attention back to the old Hokage. _

_The Hokage took a deep breath as he continued._

"_Tarek, we are not sure who did it, or how it was done, but neither of them really matter anymore. Tarek, on the night that your entire family was killed, your clans legacy, the Silver sword of Gith, was sealed inside of you."_

_A dead silence fell to the room as Tarek stared at the Hokage in shock. A sword had been sealed within him, and not just any sword, his clans own heirloom? Questions flooded his mind as he tried to make sense of this new information. He snapped back to attention as the Hokage broke the silence._

"_That silver barrier that protected you from that kunai in the alley was just one of the many abilities of the Silver Sword of Gith. The barrier was made from the shards that make up the Silver sword, providing the user with absolute protection. No known jutsu or weapon has ever been able to break through it. Your grandfather used the ability quite often to protect his fellow ninja. I have also been able to deduce that the reason you have silver eyes is because it is a side effect of having the Silver sword sealed within your body."_

_Discovering that the Silver sword could protect him wasn't all that surprising. For a five year old, he was quite intelligent and had quickly deduced that the silver barrier had had something to do with the Silver sword. However, finding out that his silver eyes were a side effect of having the sword inside of him had come as a total blow. The reason for all his pain and loneliness had been because of the sword inside of him. He suddenly felt resentment to the person who had cursed him with his fate._

"_Wow…" Naruto said in awe, completely oblivious to Tarek's rising anger._

_The Hokage had noticed Tarek's anger, and moved quickly to stop it._

"_Tarek, whoever sealed the sword inside of you probably had your safety in mind as well as the protection of the sword. I know it is hard for you, a five year old, to accept a great burden that had been placed on you near the time of your birth, but please, do not hate the relative who placed it on you, for they obviously felt that you were strong enough to carry it."_

_The Hokage's wise words washed away some of Tarek's anger. He still felt some resentment, but now he had a better idea of why it was done and he honestly couldn't blame whoever had carried out the sealing._

"_Thank you for telling me all of this Lord Hokage…" Tarek said, standing up and bowing formerly._

"_Yeah thanks old man" Naruto said grinning._

_Tarek and Hiashi both developed eye twitches at that point. However the Hokage didn't seem at all bothered with the inappropriate name. In fact, his smile just seemed to grow broader._

"_It was a secret that you would have to have learned of eventually Tarek. Since Naruto also knows, you will have someone your age to discuss it with. However, I will say this. Unless you feel that you can absolutely trust the person, I would advise you to never tell your secret to anyone." The Third Hokage said kindly. _

_Tarek nodded in agreement, and took a moment to think about all the information he had just received. After a few moments of silence, the Hokage began once more._

"_Now we must discuss both your living arrangements" The Hokage said the mischievous twinkle in his eye returning. This made Hiashi's stoic visage break and he looked towards the Hokage frowning. Naruto and Tarek just looked at the Hokage puzzled._

_End of Flashback_

Tarek was interrupted from his thoughts when Naruto came barrelling out of his room. Tarek sighed in disgust when he saw Naruto wearing his favourite orange jump suit.

"Naruto…Please don't tell me you're going to go to the Ninja academy wearing _that._"

Naruto looked at Tarek puzzled. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He asked.

"Naruto we have been through this many times before, the suit just cries 'Here I am throw your kunai right here'. If you're going to be a ninja, then that suit will just have to go." Tarek said irritably.

Naruto just snorted, and walked past Tarek, opening one of the cupboards he reached in and pulled out a cup of Instant Ramen. Seeing this, Tarek growled and slapped his forehead in disgust.

"Naruto, what have Kakashi-sensei and I told you about eating Ramen for breakfast?!"

Naruto growled at this "Tarek, you sound like an old granny. Now will you just leave me alone so I can have breakfast quickly? Kami, were going to be late for our first day if you carry on." Naruto put the cup of instant ramen into the microwave and set it for three minutes. Tarek just stared at Naruto, his jaw slack. _He _was going to make them late? Tarek grumbled under his breath about Naruto and his laziness. After a few moments, Naruto pulled out his Ramen and after finding the chopsticks, began to eat hastily. Tarek looked at the time and began pacing impatiently waiting for Naruto to finish eating. They only had Ten minutes to get to the Ninja Academy. After a few moments, he watched Naruto throw the empty cup of Instant Ramen into the bin

_About bloody time_ Tarek thought.

"Ok let's go!" Naruto shouted with one of his foxy grins on his face. Despite his impatience, Tarek couldn't help but return the smile. The three years that the two had gotten to know each other had been the best time Tarek had ever had. They had both gotten so close that they may as well be brothers. Sure they may argue quite a lot, especially about Naruto's habits, however it was mostly nothing but playful banter between two brothers in all but blood. After exiting the apartment where both he and Naruto lived, Tarek took his heavily tinted sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. After he had done that, Tarek and Naruto sprinted away, heading towards the Ninja academy. Training with their guardian, Kakashi Hatake, had made the two of them almost as fast as two Chunin, and within five minutes of weaving through the crowded streets of Konoha, they were standing side by side at the academy gates.

_This is it, the next step will be the first towards my dream_ Tarek thought, and he glanced at Naruto. He could see that Naruto was probably thinking the same thing. Well, either that or he was thinking of lunch time when he could eat more Ramen. Tarek could never tell with Naruto. As they both made a move towards the gate, they were suddenly stopped by a ninja who had appeared before them in a flurry of leaves. He glared at Naruto.

"No demon is going to be allowed to enter this academy; I will not endanger the students by letting you in." The ninja said, literally spitting out the word 'demon'. Tarek glanced at Naruto and saw him immediately tense up. Those words had stung Naruto deep, and this made Tarek furious. He glared at the ninja ready to defend his friend. As soon as he opened his mouth however, there was a voice from behind him.

"How can you say such things to an innocent child?!" Tarek and Naruto spun around to see a woman in long robes, her right hand on her hip and another holding onto a small shy girl of about their age. She was glaring at the ninja blocking the way, and as Tarek noticed her eyes, he did a double take and looked at the girl.

_They are both Hyuuga's! _Tarek thought thinking of Hiashi, who visited them once a week. As soon as the ninja noticed the two Hyuuga's, he suddenly paled. He bowed to them both.

"Lady Hannah, I did not see you there, please, allow me to escort you to the academy with your daughter. I promise you that you will not have to worry about the Demon defiling your daughter." Apparently the ninja had ignored what she had said. At the ninja's words, Tarek saw red and made a move towards him. Naruto he noticed was doing the same. Before the two of them got there however, Hannah was already there, slamming her palm into the ninja's stomach. The ninja dropped to the floor, coughing up blood as he did so. Tarek and Naruto just stood there staring at her in awe. Hannah looked coldly down at the ninja.

"Don't you dare ever say such words in the boys or my presence ever again or your punishment will be a lot worse." Tarek and Naruto could both feel the killing intent radiating off of her. After the ninja slipped into unconsciousness, Hannah turned to face the two awe-struck boys. She smiled at them kindly.

"You must be Tarek and Naruto, my husband talks about the two of you quite often." She said staring down at them. Tarek and Naruto both snapped out of their stares and both bowed to her, Naruto rather clumsily. Hannah just smiled at the two of them.

"There is no need to be so formal. Let me introduce you both to my daughter." Hannah turned to look at her daughter who was standing where she had been left staring at her twiddling fingers. She was wearing a beige jacket, and 3/4 trousers. Her hair was a deep indigo colour, much like her mothers. Her eyes, though they were the normal white symbolising she was Hyuuga had a slight lavender tint to them.

"Come over here Hinata." Hannah said kindly.

Timidly, the girl walked towards her mother, hiding behind her legs while looking at the two puzzled boys.

"Good, now introduce yourself to them, don't be shy." Hannah quietly coaxed. Hinata stepped away from her legs and, while twiddling her fingers, bowed her head to them.

"I-I am Hinata H-Hyuuga, heiress t-to the Hyuuga clan." She said quietly stuttering.

Puzzled, Tarek bowed his head to her "I am Tarek Swordstalker, last of the Swordstalker clan."

Naruto gave Hinata one of his foxy grins then held out his hand "Names Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage, it's nice to meet you."

Tarek's eye began to twitch at the informal greeting. Hinata looked at him startled, and then timidly took his hand. Hannah burst out laughing.

"My husband told me you were quite the character Naruto." She then looked thoughtfully at the two of them.

"Hmm…Can you both do me a favour?"

Naruto and Tarek looked towards her, both wondering what favour she could possibly ask of them.

"Would you both please look after Hinata while she's at the academy? She hasn't got many friends, and I would be glad if she had some to look after her."

Tarek thought this over a moment. Coming to a decision, he was about to answer when Naruto interrupted him.

"Of course we will!" He said excitedly.

"How about it Hinata you want to be friends?" Naruto said turning his gaze to her. Tarek had noticed that Naruto had not yet let go of Hinata's hand, and though she had flushed to a deep crimson colour, she didn't seem at all bothered about him holding her hand. Tarek concealed the sudden grin he had developed with his hand.

_Oh this is going to be good _Tarek thought slyly.

Hinata looked at Naruto a few moments, before smiling shyly at him.

"Yes I-I would l-like to be friends." She stuttered.

"Great!" Naruto shouted, giving her a fox like grin.

"Thank you both, believe me, this greatly appreciated. Well you had all better head to the meeting hall before you get into trouble for being late." She bent down and hugged Hinata, then nodded to both Tarek and Naruto before finally leaving. Tarek, Naruto and Hinata, who had still not let go of each others hands walked into the academy just as the bell rang signifying the beginning of their first day at the Ninja academy.

* * *

"…The Kyuubi attack on the village caused many brave ninja's death, wiping out whole families. Then in our most desperate hour, the Fourth…" Iruka droned on giving them a historical account of the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago. Tarek had at first listened to him attentively. However, as Iruka continued to drone on and on, Tarek found his attention slipping. He had never really been interested in History, and Iruka's droning voice was only causing him to lose interest faster than usual. Tarek glanced to his left where Naruto and Hinata sat beside him. Naruto was saying something to Hinata and she was trying her best to suppress her giggles. Tarek grinned to himself. Since the first day of the academy when they had first met, Hinata had opened up to the two of them quite a bit. She was still shy around them, and whenever she was close to Naruto, her face would turn a bright crimson. Naruto, being the dense idiot that he is thought Hinata had a fever or some other illness. Every time Naruto had touched her forehead to check her temperature, Hinata would faint almost immediately, causing Naruto to panic. Tarek had never laughed so much in his life. 

_These two months have been great. Well mostly…_Tarek thought as he looked down in front of him glaring at the two girls who were arguing over who Sasuke Uchiha would want to go out with. For two straight months, Sakura Haruno and InoYamanaka had argued constantly about how they were more suited for Sasuke than the other. It really annoyed Tarek, especially since every time Tarek and Naruto had tried to talk to Sasuke; the two would throw a fit and go into a rant about them not being 'worthy' to go near 'their' Sasuke. Personally, Tarek felt sorry for the guy. Taking his attention away from the two fan girls, Tarek glanced up at the clock on the wall and sighed. There was still ten minutes left before class finished for the day. Sighing once more, Tarek shifted in his seat to get comfortable and then slowly closed his eyes. He could take a small nap for ten minutes, and because of his glasses, Iruka will never notice. He suddenly awoke however when he heard the sound of someone humming. As he opened his eyes, he was startled to find that he was surrounded by a silver mist, and that he was no longer in his classroom. Looking around him, he noticed that none of his classmates were with him.

_Where am I?_ Tarek thought as he looked around. Slowly, the silver mist began to dissipate. Once it had, Tarek gasped as he looked around him. He seemed to be in the middle of a giant training hall; however, that was not what made him gasp. The floor, walls and even the ceiling were shimmering silver, much like the color of his eyes.

"_**About time, what on earth took you so long to get here?**_"Someone whispered in Tarek's ear. Startled, Tarek spun around to find himself face to face with the scarred and battered face of a man with graying black hair and dark brown eyes. The man had his arms crossed, and was giving Tarek a peeved stare.

"_**I have waited for eight years to talk to you, and when I finally have a chance, you somehow manage to block me out, or get interrupted by your loudmouth friend. Do you realize how boring it can be in here with nothing to do but wait until you have grown up enough so that I can start talking to you?**_" The old man ranted, eventually breaking down into muttering to himself about kids not having any respect for their elders. Tarek was just staring at him in bewilderment, wondering who the hell this crazy man was. Noticing Tarek's expression, the man stopped muttering wondering what was wrong with the boy. Then it suddenly hit him that the kid had no idea who he was or even where. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, the man gave Tarek a sheepish smile.

"_**Sorry about that, Uh, I suppose you have some questions?**_"

Recovering from his bewilderment, Tarek crossed his arms and gave the man a peeved stare.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled and then bowed deeply before replying "_**My name is Raven Swordstalker, ex-head of the Swordstalker clan and your grandfather**_"

There was a stunned silence as Tarek stared at his grandfather in disbelief. After a few more moments, Tarek recovered enough to think coherently once more.

"G-Grandfather?!" Tarek stuttered.

Raven's expression suddenly turned to one of deep sadness. "_**Yes, I know it's hard to take in, but believe me when I say I am sorry I could not be there for you before now.**_"

Tarek suddenly felt tears coming to his eyes. For three years he had accepted that he had no family left. Now, after all this time, he suddenly finds out he has a grandfather who was still alive. Part of him wanted to hurt him for the pain and loneliness he had gone through the first five years of his life, however, another part wanted to embrace him, and it was this part that Tarek gave into. He ran to his grandfather and embraced him around the middle, his tears flowing freely. Raven understood Tarek's pain, and wrapped his arms around him, feeling his own tears begin to fall. Tarek looked so much like his father that it was painful to look at him for too long. They stood there for a few moments, embracing each other before finally they broke apart. Tarek wiped his eyes and asked the question that he wanted answered more than anything else.

"Why?" Tarek whispered.

Understanding the question, Raven began "_**I was poisoned while battling against the ninja who attacked our family. I knew I did not have much time left, but I didn't want to leave you without protection. So, after sealing the Silver Sword of Gith inside of you, I carried out a jutsu which only the wielder of the Silver sword can use and sealed my spirit into the Silver sword. Doing this while I was poisoned exhausted my spirit, and for the first seven years of your life, I only had enough power to call the Silver shard barrier when you were in danger.**_"

Tarek looked at him a few moments before replying "You sealed the Silver sword inside of me?"

Raven winced at the look of pain and anger on his grandsons face. "_**Believe me, if I had had any other choice, I would not have given you this burden.**_"

Tarek nodded in understanding, though he still felt a little resentment, he believed his grandfather when he said that he had no other choice. Tarek glanced around the hall they were in once more.

"Where are we grandfather?" Tarek asked quietly.

Glad of the change of topic, Raven answered "_**We are within the Silver sword. The hall we are in at this very moment is something your great-great grandfather designed when the Silver Sword was sealed within him.**_"

Tarek nodded as he absorbed the information. Another question popped into his mind, and he glanced at his grandfather.

"What is the Silver sword, and how was it made?"

Raven winced once more. "_**I am afraid that that is a question that will have to wait for another time. Now, it is time to discuss the other reason that I have been trying to talk to you.**_" Raven said in a tone that said not to ask any more.

Tarek frowned before nodding. He will ask the question again, he will make sure of it.

"_**Other than getting a chance to talk to you, the other reason you are here is to begin your training.**_" Raven continued.

Tarek's eyes widened hearing this. His own grandfather was going to train him? Tarek felt a rush of excitement flow through him.

_Wait, how is he going to do that when he is in __here and what is he going to train me in? _Tarek thought puzzled.

Seeing Tarek's puzzled expression, Raven chuckled. "_**Your probably wondering how I am going to train you. Well why do you think this hall was designed? Your great-great grandfather wanted a quiet place where he could train in peace, so using the powers of the Silver sword, he built this hall.**_ _**The great thing about it is the stronger, faster etc that you get in here will stay the same when your mind returns to reality, though you will feel extremely tired when that happens.**_"

Tarek grinned at the thought of everything he could do in here.

"What are you going to be teaching me grandfather?" Tarek asked the excitement evident in his voice.

Raven grinned before answering "_**You will first learn to fight with a sword. Once you have mastered that, I will then teach you every single Swordstalker jutsu. In between these training periods, I will teach you tactics, history and everything else you will need to know to become a great ninja.**_" Raven then held out his hand and a Katana appeared in his hand.

"_**While you are training with me, this will be the sword that you will use.**_"

Before Tarek could say anything he heard Naruto's voice silently echoing around the hall.

_Yo, Tarek, wake up, class is finished._

Growling at the loudmouth's interruption, Raven looked at his grandson before sighing.

"_**It is time for you to return to reality. Since I have managed to get you here, I will now be able to talk to you anytime, so do not be surprised if you hear me telling you to come here.**_"

Tarek nodded in understanding, but before he left, a question popped into his mind.

"Can I tell Naruto about all of this?"

Raven thought it over a few moments before nodding. Pleased, Tarek said goodbye before pulling himself from the Silver swords mindscape. Tarek opened his eyes to find Naruto and Hinata standing over him, worried expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys, sorry about that, I kind of drifted off. Let's go" Tarek said, not giving them any chance to answer. Jumping out of his seat, Tarek glanced at Naruto's bewildered expression.

_Once were back home, I'll tell him everything. _Tarek thought, grinning to himself before leaving the classroom, Naruto and Hinata following behind him.

* * *

**Well Hope you all enjoyed, please tell me what you think of this chapter, and if you have any questions, I will gladly answer them. Now I have a slight dilemma at the moment. See, next chapter will probably be the one where teams get assigned etc. I am having trouble deciding whether to have a Naruto, Tarek and Hinata team, or a Naruto, Tarek, Sakura and Sasuke team. Whatever happens, Naruto and Tarek will be on the same team. I also can't decide which sensei to give them if I chose to do a Naruto, Tarek and Hinata team, so I will ask what you guys think. Let me know. Thanks and Merry Christmas.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Ok well here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy it. Before I continue I wish to thank Dragon Man 180 and THE HEE-HO KING who helped me come to a decision on the Team listings. Thanks again guys. This chapter is a VERY long one so I hope you all enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neverwinter Nights 2

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**Chapter 3**

_**12 Years after the Kyuubi's attack...**_

Naruto deflected Tarek's downward slash with the kunai in his right hand, and then he spun around aiming to stab Tarek in the side with the kunai in his left hand. Tarek recovered enough from Naruto's deflection however to block the incoming kunai with his Katana. Pushing the kunai away, Tarek slashed downwards once more. Naruto however managed to jump backwards just before the blade struck. Brandishing both kunai, Naruto watched Tarek calmly searching for a weakness. Tarek was standing in his favoured sword stance, doing the same as Naruto. After a few moments of searching, the two sprang to action at the same time. Naruto jumped into the air and tossed the kunai in his left hand at Tarek. Tarek sidestepped the throwing knife, and blocked the strike to his head. Naruto had used the kunai he had thrown as a distraction, aiming to strike him with the kunai in his right hand. Tarek used Naruto's weight against him, throwing him away with his sword. Naruto spun in the air and then landed on the floor head first. Stunned from the impact, Naruto struggled to get back up. At some point during the fall, he had lost the kunai in his right hand. Naruto's struggle to get up was all the time Tarek needed. He thrust his sword into the ground and began to focus chakra into the blade.

"**Sword Art: Climhazzard!**"

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the line of chakra rushing towards him, and he barely managed to jump out of the way in time. He watched in awe as the line of chakra struck the tree's that were behind him, destroying three of them completely and ripping the bark off the others. Naruto then suddenly felt cold steel pressed against his throat and knew that the battle had ended. Sighing, Naruto held his hands up signifying that he recognised the battle had ended and his own defeat. Tarek pulled away the sword that had been pressed against Naruto's neck and slid it back into the scabbard on his back. Naruto turned around just as Tarek was putting his heavily tinted sunglasses back on.

"You do realize that had my reactions been any slower, you could have killed me with that jutsu right?" Naruto asked peevishly.

Tarek shrugged "I knew you were fast enough to dodge it, so no harm done right?" Tarek said smirking at him.

Naruto growled deeply in his throat at this and began cursing his friend.

"Hey now don't be like that, it was a good practice session, hell, you nearly had me several times with those blasted kunai of yours." Tarek said trying to calm his friend down.

Naruto gave him a droll stare "Yeah, well unlike you, _I _don't have my grandfather inside of me ready to call upon a Silver shard barrier if I'm close to getting killed."

"Grandfather wouldn't interfere in our practice sessions, you know that." Tarek said placidly.

_Yeah right, I heard that one before _Naruto thought. Tarek had told Naruto all about his grandfather four years ago on the same day that he had talked to him. At first, Naruto found it a little hard to believe, but then, Tarek started carrying a Katana around with him and was using it like he had had years of practice. Naruto knew that Kakashi had not been teaching him, so that meant Tarek had been telling the truth. Tarek's face suddenly zoned out, signifying that he was talking to his grandfather. Tarek then shook his head and looked back to Naruto.

"Grandfather says you did very well, and that your speed is getting a lot better. However, he says that you need to control your strength a little more, you used unnecessary force and that is what allowed me to toss you with my sword."

Naruto grunted in acknowledgement of the praise and criticism. He then placed his hands behind his head and gave Tarek one of his foxy grins.

"So that is 139 wins to me, 140 to you, and 10 draws. Damn, I'll just have to beat you next time."

Tarek returned Naruto's grin "Yeah, yeah, we'll see."

Naruto grinned evilly, knowing that what he was going to say next would annoy Tarek big time.

"So, since I lost, it's my turn to pick where were having our after workout meal." Naruto pretended to ponder.

"I know, how about Ichiraku's Ramen stand."

The effect was immediate, as Tarek slapped his forehead and groaned in disgust.

"Naruto, how many times have Kakashi-sensei, grandfather, Lord Hiashi, Hinata and I told you about eating Ramen all the time!" Tarek shouted glaring at his friend.

"Hey, we made the agreement that the loser gets to eat where he want's to when we started these practice sessions, don't blame me just because you won" Naruto said knowing that Tarek couldn't argue against that.

Tarek growled, causing Naruto to smirk.

"Ok, now let's get going!" Naruto shouted happily as he took off, heading back to town.

Tarek sighed and then chased after him. Within ten minutes, Naruto and Tarek were sitting at Ichiraku's eating their ramen, both favouring the Miso Ramen. After a few moments of silence, Tarek looked towards Naruto.

"What do you think they will ask us to do in the Graduation exam this year?" He asked.

Naruto thought about it a few moments. In all honesty, he didn't know what they were going to ask, but he hoped to Kami they wouldn't ask them to do the one thing he couldn't do.

"Honestly, I'm not sure, it could be anything. However, I hope that they won't ask us to do Bunshin's." Naruto said shuddering.

Tarek nodded knowing that Naruto could not make a clone to save his life.

"I guess we will soon know the exam is tomorrow after all." Tarek said quietly, returning to his Ramen. Suddenly the curtains parted and in stepped Hinata. Naruto's face lit up at the sight of her.

"Hey Hinata, how are you?" Naruto shouted, grinning at her.

Hinata turned bright crimson and began to twiddle her fingers.

"H-hello N-Naruto, I a-am fine thank y-you." Hinata stuttered as she took a seat between Naruto and Tarek.

"Good, so you think you're ready for the exam tomorrow?" Naruto asked.

Hinata looked down at her twiddling fingers. "N-not really, I-I know I a-am going to f-fail." She said sadly.

Tarek frowned at this "Why do you think you are going to fail Hinata?"

"W-well, I-I know I am too w-weak." She said in a barely audible whisper.

After hearing this, Naruto stood up angrily and stared into her face, which she turned away from him, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Hinata look at me." Naruto growled at her.

Reluctantly, Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, her face turning an even deeper crimson colour.

"Hinata you are not weak, you are one of the strongest females in the academy. Hell, you even beat _Sasuke_ that one time, so don't believe a single word that bastard Neji says to you. Tarek and I know your strong so don't ever think differently, you _will_ pass that exam tomorrow." Naruto said, knowing exactly who had upset Hinata.

Hinata's eyes began to tear up at Naruto's words of encouragement; she then suddenly jumped out of her seat and embraced him tightly. Naruto looked down at her startled.

"H-Hinata?"

"T-thank y-you s-so much Naruto." Hinata sobbed into his chest.

Naruto, rather awkwardly, patted her back. "You're welcome Hinata" he said baffled.

Tarek just stared at them keeping his mouth covered with his hand to prevent himself from laughing out loud. Naruto had still failed to see that Hinata had a crush on him and Hinata was too shy to tell Naruto herself. He had told Hinata that he would tell him if she wished, but she had given him a horrified look and told him quite firmly not to say a word. His amusement however turned to anger as he thought of the words Hinata had uttered. Ever since her mother had died three years ago, Hinata's confidence had decreased a lot more, it also didn't help that her cousin Neji and even her little sister Hanabi kept telling her she was weak and wouldn't amount to anything. It made both Naruto and Tarek's blood boil, and if Hinata hadn't insisted that they ignore it, both boys' would be at the Hyuuga estates right now battering the shit out of Neji and Hanabi too if it weren't for the fact that she was only nine years old.

He turned his attention back to Naruto and Hinata as Hinata finally let go of Naruto and sat herself back down in her seat, her eyes red from crying and her cheeks stained with tears, however, she had a bright smile on her face, Naruto's words of encouragement obviously still going through her mind.

"Hey old-man, three Miso Ramen please." Naruto shouted to the chef of the Ramen stand.

"Coming right up Naruto!" The chef shouted back to him. After a few moments, the chef's daughter, Ayame, placed down a bowl each in front of the three. After saying thank you to the two of them, the three began to eat.

Naruto glanced at Hinata to see her eating her ramen slowly; she had a bright smile on her face and seemed to be deep in thought. Naruto grinned to himself.

_She's cute when she smiles; she should do it more often_ Naruto thought, and then shook himself mentally.

_Where the hell did that come from?_ Naruto thought puzzled. After pondering it for a few moments, he shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his ramen. Ten minutes later, after Naruto had finished his fifteenth bowl of ramen, the three left the ramen stand. It was getting late, and the two boys' insisted on walking Hinata home. They slowly made their way to the Hyuuga estates, chatting about anything that crossed their minds and laughing with each other. They finally reached the Hyuuga estate a few moments later.

"Well, guess we will see you tomorrow right Hinata?" Naruto said giving her a foxy grin.

She returned his grin with a shy smile of her own, her face flushed crimson. "Y-yes, g-good night T-Tarek, good n-night N-Naruto." She stuttered.

"Good night Hinata." Both boys said at the same time.

Hinata waved and then turned and walked through the gates of the Hyuuga estates. After standing there a few moments, Tarek broke the silence.

"We had better get going; we have a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's go" Naruto said grinning, walking away from the estates.

* * *

Hinata entered her room and closed the door behind her before running to the bed and embracing her pillow. Holding it close to her face she let out the squeal that she had wanted to let out since she hugged Naruto. 

_I hugged Naruto, I hugged Naruto!_ She thought excitedly, her face turning a bright crimson. She could still feel the warmth that emanated from his chest where she had placed her head on his chest. She clung to the pillow tightly, her mind still on the moment she had shared with Naruto. Ever since the first day she had met Naruto she had had a crush on him. He and Tarek had been the first friends she had ever had. At first, she had thought they were only being nice to her because of her mother's request, but she soon realised that they were both being nice because they genuinely wanted to be her friend, so she had slowly allowed them to get to know her. For the past four years, the two of them had been there for her, comforting her when she was upset, giving her encouragement when she thought she couldn't do something or felt weak. She had even been trusted enough to be shown Tarek's silver eyes. She hadn't been scared of them; in fact she had thought they were beautiful and couldn't understand how anyone could be scared of him when they saw them. When her mother had died, she had been so depressed. Her father had tried to comfort her, and Hinata would give him a fake smile so as not to worry him. Not even Tarek had seen through it when he tried to give her his own comfort. However, Naruto had seen right through it. He then embraced her and told her everything would be fine, and that she didn't have to hide her pain. She had broken down then and cried into Naruto's chest. He had held her until she had cried herself to sleep. When she had awoken, she had found herself still lying on Naruto's chest; she had looked up to find him asleep. The memory, despite it being slightly painful brought a smile to her face. Smiling to herself, Hinata finally placed the pillow back and then looked up at the moon from her window. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

_Mother, please help me to pass the exam tomorrow, and please, allow me to be on the same team as Naruto _Hinata prayed in her mind. After she was done praying, Hinata began to get ready for bed, thinking about the exam the next day.

* * *

Naruto and Tarek walked into the classroom the next day only to findSakura and Ino literally coming to blows over who would sit next to Sasuke. The boy in question was just staring moodily at the wall, not paying any attention to the two as they fought. Taking in the situation quickly, Naruto and Tarek pulled the girls apart, Naruto dragging away Sakura while Tarek held Ino where she was. 

"Let go of me you freak!" Ino yelled smashing her elbow into Tarek's face. The blow caused Tarek's glasses to fly off. Everyone froze as they saw the glasses land on the floor. Hinata who had just entered the classroom saw what had happened and gasped in horror. Tarek, his nose bleeding from the blow had his eyes squeezed shut to stop his classmates from seeing his eyes. Naruto let go of Sakura and made a dive for the glasses. Before he could get to them however, Ino had slammed her foot down upon them, breaking them instantly. Naruto looked up to see Ino looking down at him with a sadistic smirk on her face.

"Oops." She said sweetly.

Naruto glared at her with hatred. This was going too far, even for Ino. Ino just smirked at him before turning to face Tarek.

"I have always wondered why you wear such heavily tinted sunglasses even inside, so how about you enlighten us. Open your eyes."

Tarek remained completely silent and his eyelids didn't even twitch. Hinata and Naruto made a move towards the two, but several of their classmates held them back.

"Let go of me! Ino Leave him alone!" Naruto roared.

"P-please, l-leave him a-alone" Hinata stuttered loudly.

Ino continued to smirk "I will…once he has opened his eyes. For four years he has worn those glasses, he has never shown his eyes to anyone apart from it seems you two. I think the rest of us all have a right to know what he's hiding."

Naruto growled and struggled against the people holding him back. Hinata kept asking Ino to leave him alone, but she paid no heed to her. Ino waited a few moments, but as soon as she saw that Tarek would not willingly open his eyes, she growled in frustration.

"Fine, if you won't show us willingly, then I'll force you to show us." She put her hands into a weird hand sign.

Sakura gasped. "Ino-pig, stop it, you can't use the Mind body switch jutsu!"

"Shut up forehead girl!" Ino roared not taking her eyes off of Tarek.

Everyone could feel her chakra flowing into her hands. Just as she opened her mouth to use the jutsu however, a black cloud flew towards her. Shrieking, Ino lost her focus and moved away from the black swarm. Naruto looked in the direction where it had come from. He saw a boy wearing a heavy grey jacket that covered a part of his face, with brown 3/4 trousers much like Hinata's blue ones. His hair was a spiky brown, and he wore heavily tinted sunglasses much like Tarek did.

_Shino Aburame_ Naruto remembered. He also remembered that the clan used chakra bugs, which explained what the black swarm was. Shino's chakra bugs returned to him as he walked towards Tarek. When he finally reached him, he pulled a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses out of his pocket and held them against Tarek's hand.

"Here, use these" Shino said in his emotionless voice. Tarek took hold of the glasses and then slowly put them on. Once they were on, Tarek opened his eyes and looked at Shino.

"Thank you Shino, I owe you one." Tarek said in relief.

Shino inclined his head and moved towards his desk beside Shikamaru Nara whom had slept through the whole incident. The students holding Naruto and Hinata let go of them and they both walked towards Tarek and stood either side of him facing a disgusted Ino. Tarek glared at her.

"Remember this Ino, you try something like that ever again, and I will not hesitate to draw my sword. You have been warned." Tarek said ominously before turning around and walking to his desk leaving a frightened Ino behind him. Naruto and Hinata followed close behind him. As they passed his desk, Sasuke glanced towards them. After staring at them for a few moments he turned his attention back to the wall. Naruto frowned at this. Ever since the entire Uchiha clan were killed by his older brother, Sasuke had become a loner, not socialising with anyone, not even the people who had considered themselves his friends. The Sasuke that Naruto, Tarek and Hinata had once considered a possible friend had become nothing but a cold shell of his former self. Taking his thoughts away from the Uchiha, Naruto sat down in front of the desk he shared with Tarek and Hinata. A few moments later, Iruka walked in to the classroom closely followed by Mizuki, another teacher at the academy who sometimes helped Iruka during exams.

"Morning class, now would you all kindly return to your seats, the graduation exam is about to begin." Iruka said cheerfully. As he looked around the class he looked up towards Naruto, Tarek and Hinata's desk. His eyes widened and his smile faded as he saw the blood dripping from Tarek's nose.

"Tarek, what happened to your nose?!" Iruka said in a loud concerned voice.

Naruto and Hinata looked at Tarek. They had both forgotten that Ino had smashed her elbow into Tarek's nose. Ino turned back to stare at him, her eyes wide in fear. Tarek remained silent a few moments before finally replying.

"I tripped over and smashed my nose on the floor Iruka-sensei." Tarek said calmly, not even glancing at a surprised Naruto and Hinata or a baffled Ino. Iruka stared at him for a few moments, his eyes showing his disbelief. Finally, he sighed and shook his head.

"In that case Tarek, would you please go see the academy nurse? You can do your exam as soon as your nose has been fixed up."

Tarek nodded and stood up. He had walked past Naruto and Hinata before turning around and grinning.

"Good luck you two." He said cheerfully before continuing out the door. Ino watched him every step of the way, her expression one of confusion. After a few moments of silence, Iruka cleared his throat, bringing the class's attention to him.

"Ok, when I call out your name you will follow Mizuki-sensei and I into the next room where you will be asked to perform a few tasks that have been set for the exam. Do any of you have any questions?" Silence followed this. Nodding Iruka looked down at his list.

"Shino Aburame." Iruka called. Shino stood and then slowly walked towards Iruka and Mizuki. As he passed Naruto and Hinata's desk, Naruto gave him a thumbs up sign.

"Good luck Shino." Naruto said quietly, giving him one of his foxy grins.

"Y-yes, g-good luck S-Shino" Hinata managed to stutter out.

Shino inclined his head to both of them before finally walking out of the room with Iruka and Mizuki.

* * *

It was two hours later, and the only people who were left to be tested were Naruto, Sasuke and Tarek who had just returned from the Nurses office with his nose as good as new. The people who had been called to do the exam had not returned which meant that they weren't allowed to tell the ones who have yet to take the exam what they had to do. The three stood by their desks, Naruto and Tarek on one, Sasuke on another. They were all completely silent; Tarek and Sasuke were contemplating what the possible tasks could be, while Naruto had his thoughts on Hinata. 

_She was so nervous, I hope she has done well; she has worked really hard for this _Naruto thought, remembering how nervous she had looked when her name had been called out. As she shakily had gotten up off her chair, Naruto had taken her hand then told her that she will do well, and gave her one of his foxy grins. Though her face had turned crimson, her eyes and smile showed her gratitude. Then a sudden thought came to him.

_Why does Hinata's face always go bright red when she is around me?_ Naruto thought puzzled. At first, he had thought she had an illness, but then realised that couldn't be it. Now he contemplated it once more, nothing came to mind on why she would act like that. Naruto was interrupted from his thoughts suddenly when Iruka walked into the classroom once more.

"Tarek Swordstalker." Iruka called, staring up at him. Tarek seemed to pull himself back to reality and made his way to Iruka. He had obviously been talking to his grandfather. Before he exited the room, Naruto shouted "Go show them what you can do Tarek!"

Tarek grinned up at him and nodded his head before leaving the room. Now the only two left were Naruto and Sasuke. The room had returned to silence as Naruto finally turned his thoughts to the exam. He thought of all the possible tasks they could be asked to perform when his mind suddenly turned to Bunshin's. He paled and his eyes widened.

_Oh Kami, please don't be so cruel, please do not ask me to perform a Bunshin_ He thought, his mind in a state of panic. Five minutes later, Iruka returned to see Naruto pale and wide eyed. He winced. It looked like Naruto had figured out what they were going to be asked to perform.

_Oh please let Naruto perform the Jutsu right just this once_ Iruka prayed in his head as he looked at one of the two students he had always thought of as a younger brother, the other being Tarek. He finally called out the next name on the list.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke slowly got up, his face as stoic as ever, and left with Iruka. Now Naruto was all alone. His panic had taken over all his thoughts and he began to pace.

_Kami! Why would fate be so cruel, why Bunshin's! The one goddamn Jutsu I can't do! _Naruto thought continuing to pace. His thoughts chaotic, he didn't realise that Iruka was calling him.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka called. Noticing that Naruto was in a panicked state, Iruka tried again.

"Naruto Uzumaki" Iruka said a bit louder. Naruto still continued his panicked pacing. Sighing, Iruka grimly walked up to Naruto.

"Naruto!" Iruka roared in his ear.

"Gahhh!" Naruto cried as he suddenly looked up at his sensei.

"Naruto I have called your name twice, it's your turn to take the exam." Iruka said staring down at him sympathetically. Naruto nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. He followed Iruka to the classroom where the exam was taking place. As he walked in, Naruto noticed that Mizuki was leaning against the desk, writing on a clipboard. He looked up as he heard Iruka and Naruto enter.

"Ahh…Naruto, You Nervous about the exam?" Mizuki asked him, grinning.

Naruto put on a false smile that no one could see through and shook his head.

"Hell no, I'll pass this exam no problem!" Naruto yelled out.

Mizuki chuckled while Iruka looked at him baffled.

_But a few moments ago he was pacing in a panic…_Iruka thought baffled. Shrugging it off, he watched Naruto closely.

"Naruto, you must perform the Bunshin Jutsu. To pass you need to make three clones identical to you." Iruka said. He noticed Naruto's smile falter slightly.

_Could it be he is putting up a mask? But why would he do that? _Iruka thought puzzled.

"You can begin now Naruto." Mizuki said watching him.

Naruto took a deep breath. He began to focus his chakra and put his hands together in the Ram sign.

_I can do this. I can do this. I can do this_ Naruto kept saying in his head.

"**Bunshin Jutsu!**"

A large amount of smoke suddenly filled the whole room. It slowly faded and Iruka and Mizuki saw Naruto's 'attempt' at the Jutsu.

_Oh Naruto_ Iruka thought sadly.

Naruto had only managed to form one clone…if it could even be worthy of being called a clone. It was completely white, and looked so sickly that it wouldn't be any use in a battle situation.

Iruka looked at Naruto sympathetically. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I cannot let you pass, the clone just isn't good enough."

"Well he _did_ manage to form a clone; surely it could serve as a distraction." Mizuki said glancing at the hopeful look on Naruto's face.

Iruka sighed "No, it wouldn't be fair on the other students. I'm sorry Naruto."

Naruto didn't say a word. He just stared at them stoically, then turned around and left the room. Iruka watched him, sadness evident in the way he stared at Naruto's retreating form.

_Forgive me Naruto…

* * *

_

Tarek and Hinata were waiting by the academy exit for Naruto, their forehead protectors shining in the bright midday sun. Tarek wore his forehead protector on his forehead, while Hinata wore hers around her neck like a choker. Though they were both filled with joy at passing, they both also felt apprehension. They knew how bad Naruto was at forming clones.

_Come on Naruto, you can pass this! _Tarek thought.

"_**I doubt it Tarek, he has worked on that jutsu for a long time and he **_**still **_**can't do it…**_" Raven said to him in his mind.

Tarek glared at his grandfather with his minds eye.

_He can do this! I know he can! The three of us all promised that we would become ninja together, and Naruto _never _breaks his promises! _Tarek said to him, not being swayed by his grandfather's opinion. Raven sighed. He admitted, the boy had grown on him, and he hoped that he did pass, but he knew that the likelihood of it happening was very low.

Hinata had similar thoughts to Tarek. _He promised we would pass this together, oh please let my Naruto pass Kami_ Hinata prayed. The two were pulled from their thoughts when Iruka suddenly came out of the exit. Tarek and Hinata immediately noticed that Naruto wasn't with him. Iruka glanced at the two of them sadly a few moments before finally speaking.

"Congratulations to all of you, you have now officially graduated from the academy. Tomorrow you will be put into your teams, so please com here tomorrow bright and early at nine o'clock. That is all; you have the rest of the day free." Iruka said smiling. Most of the students cheered at this and those who had parents to come to get them began leaving with them, talking about their new careers as ninja. Tarek and Hinata however made their way towards Iruka. He noticed them coming, and his expression turned to one of sadness. That was all that Tarek needed for his suspicions to be confirmed. He bowed his head in sadness. Hinata gasped and tears began to slowly form in her eyes.

"Iruka-sensei, w-where is he?" Hinata managed to choke out. Iruka and Tarek both looked at her startled that she had hardly stuttered.

"I don't know, he left after he failed, I thought you might have seen him." Iruka said in a barely audible whisper.

"He didn't come out. This means he is ashamed to see us." Tarek said and then cursed mentally.

_Damn idiot, were your friends_ Tarek thought angrily.

"_**Like you said, he made a promise to you, and knowing that he wasn't able to pass the test makes him think that he has broken it.**_" Raven said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Tarek looked thoughtful for a moment before finally staring back at Iruka. Hinata stood beside him, trying her best to stop her tears that were falling on Naruto's behalf.

"Iruka-sensei isn't there any other possible way for Naruto to graduate." Tarek asked desperately. Iruka sighed and shook his head. Tarek's facial expression then changed from desperation to determination.

"In that case, I won't pass either; we can take the test again next year with him." Tarek said his voice strong with conviction. Hinata nodded, signifying that she thought the same way as Tarek.

"And how do you think that would make Naruto feel, knowing that you stayed back for him? Don't you think that maybe he will feel extremely guilty if you do that?" Iruka questioned softly. Tarek and Hinata looked at each other and then looked down at their feet. Iruka sighed again and patted the two on the shoulder before walking back into the academy. After a few moments Tarek turned back to face Hinata.

"Hinata, can you use your Byakugen to search the area for him?" He asked stoically.

Hinata nodded and then activated her bloodline ability. After about five seconds she deactivated it and looked back at Tarek.

"He's sitting on the swing in the yard. The one we always hang out by." She said sadly. Tarek nodded and was about to head in that direction when Hinata's father, Hiashi, and Kakashi, Tarek and Naruto's guardian, walked towards them.

"Ahh, I see you both passed, congratulations both of you." Kakashi said happily, showing that he was smiling by closing the right eye that was visible and arching the eyebrow up.

"Yes, well done Hinata, Tarek." Hiashi said embracing Hinata, smiling slightly, a rare thing to happen these days.

Kakashi looked around them then, puzzled. "Where's Naruto? Surely he would be with you both celebrating, after all the three of you are Genin now."

At this, both Tarek and Hinata stared down at the ground. Noticing this Hiashi looked at their sad expressions before cursing.

"Naruto didn't pass did he? This means they asked you to perform the Bunshin Jutsu." He said cursing Naruto's luck. Kakashi had a sad expression on what was visible of his face.

"Where is he?" Kakashi asked.

Tarek pointed in the direction of the swing. Hiashi turned his head in that direction and activated his Byakugen. After a few moments he deactivated it and gave Tarek a puzzled frown.

"He is gone now. He wasn't in the immediate area either."

Tarek looked at him puzzled. Where could Naruto have gone?

"_**He has probably gone back home. He will need some space so leave him be. Anyway, you had better say goodbye to your guardians and Hinata, remember, you still have to perfect the new jutsu.**_" Raven said sympathetically. Tarek nodded mentally and then sighed.

"I have to get going, so I'll see you tomorrow Hinata, and you Kakashi-sensei. It was good to see you Lord Hiashi." Tarek bowed before leaving without giving them the chance to say goodbye. Kakashi watched him go.

_One day I'm going to find out how he gained such mastery with a sword and even learned some of his clans own jutsu._ He thought turning back to face Hinata and Hiashi.

* * *

It was midnight and Naruto was jumping from tree branch to tree branch, heading towards the clearing where he was supposed to meet Mizuki. On his back was the forbidden scroll that Mizuki had told him to steal so he could become a Genin. Normally he would have been suspicious of such a request, but he had been so desperate to become a ninja that all logical thoughts were dashed. All he could see in his minds eye were Tarek and Hinata's surprised faces when they saw him with his forehead protector. After a few more minutes of jumping through the trees, he finally arrived at the clearing. It was a fair sized clearing with an abandoned shed at the edge of the clearing. Naruto walked to the centre of the clearing and looked around for a few moments. Noticing that Mizuki wasn't here yet, Naruto took the scroll off of his back and eagerly opened it. Inside the scroll was a huge list of forbidden jutsu. If he could learn some of these, he may be able to become a Chunin or even a Jounin. Excited, Naruto stared at the first two jutsu written on the scroll. 

_Hmm...The Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Exploding Shadow Clone Jutsu, maybe I'll have a better luck with these cloning jutsu _Naruto thought He then looked further down and saw a Jutsu that caught his eye. _The Burning Rave, well that sounds cool, I'll try that as well_ Naruto thought. With his mind made up, he began to read how to perform all three jutsu.

* * *

Iruka searched frantically at the places he knew Naruto was known to frequent. Not finding him at any of them, Iruka frantically searched for Tarek. He had to find Naruto quickly, before some of the other ninja called to search for him did. If the others found him, they may kill him for something that wasn't his fault. After searching for Tarek for half an hour, Iruka gave up and headed towards the Hyuuga mansion to see if Hinata or Hiashi knew where both boys were. Suddenly he heard a loud explosion coming from the Konoha forest. Stopping his frantic run, he looked in the direction where he thought the explosion had come from. Sure enough, there was another explosion. Deciding to investigate, Iruka sprinted off towards the explosions. 

_Please don't let those explosions mean that either Naruto or Tarek are in danger_ Iruka thought as panic began to grip him. Moving faster than he thought possible, he arrived in a clearing. There in the centre lay Naruto, panting from exhaustion but none the worse for wear, the Forbidden Scroll lying beside him. Around the clearing were huge craters where the explosions must have taken place.

_Did Naruto do all of this? But how could he possibly…_Iruka thought puzzled. Putting it to the back of his mind for now, he walked towards Naruto just as he was getting back up.

"Naruto what the hell do you think your doing?" Iruka demanded in a tone mixed with anger and relief. Naruto spun around to see an annoyed Iruka behind him. He gave him one of his foxy grins.

"Perfect, now you can pass me and I can become a Genin right?"

Iruka looked at him in shock. "What?" he asked baffled

Naruto stared at him, his smile faltering a little "If I show you a Jutsu I learned from the scroll you will make me a Genin right?" Naruto asked.

"Who told you that Naruto?" Iruka asked, now understanding why Naruto did what he did. His eyes suddenly widened and he pushed Naruto out of the way just as shuriken and kunai struck him. Staring at Iruka shocked, Naruto turned to stare at the tree where the kunai and shuriken had come from. His eyes widened as he saw Mizuki standing on a tree branch with two Huge Shuriken on his back.

"Ahh good Naruto, you have done well, now come here and give me the scroll." Mizuki said, giving Naruto a sadistic smirk.

"Don't listen to him Naruto! He was using you to get the scroll!" Iruka shouted desperately. Mizuki glared at Iruka for a moment before his eyes lit up.

"You can't listen to Iruka Naruto; after all he hates you for what you did to his family." Mizuki said pleasantly.

"What? I never did anything to his family?!" Naruto shouted in bafflement.

"Mizuki, that is an S-class secret, you can't tell him!" Iruka roared, wincing in pain as he removed the kunai and shuriken from his chest and legs.

"You see Naruto." Mizuki continued ignoring Iruka. "Twelve years ago the Kyuubi was defeated by the Fourth Hokage, or so the Third Hokage had you believe. As a matter of fact, it was impossible to kill it, and so the Fourth did the only thing he could and sealed it into a newborn baby. Naruto, you were that baby, you are the Kyuubi reincarnate; you are the monster that killed Iruka's family! Now I will do the village a favour and kill you, you monster!" Mizuki roared in glee. Naruto could only stare at the ground, shocked at hearing the reason that the village hated him. Mizuki removed one of the Huge Shuriken from his back and prepared to toss it at him.

"**Sword Art: Crimson Wave!**"

Mizuki jumped off the branch just as a blood red wave of chakra struck the tree branch he had been standing on, cutting it off cleanly. Mizuki turned and looked in the direction where the wave had come from.

"No one _ever_ calls my brother a monster and get's away with it." Tarek stated as he walked out from the shadows, wearing his grey jacket which was open showing his white t-shirt which was soaked with sweat. He had taken his glasses off and stared at Mizuki, his silver eyes shimmering faster, showing his anger. His Katana was out and Mizuki realised it was covered in blood.

Mizuki stared at him in fear. He had never known about Tarek's silver eyes. They chilled his soul. Out of fear more than anything else, he tossed his shuriken straight at Tarek. Tarek held his blade up calmly and then focused his chakra into the blood on the blade.

"**Sword Art: Crimson Wave!**"

Tarek swung his blade and a blood red wave shot from it cutting the incoming shuriken in half and continuing towards Mizuki. Mizuki managed to jump away in time and began performing hand seals.

"**Fire Art: Great Fireball Technique!**"

Holding his hands to his mouth, Mizuki shot the huge fireball directly at Tarek. Tarek managed to jump out of the way in time, but was too late to stop the shuriken that Mizuki had thrown from hitting him in his leg. He fell to the ground, the huge shuriken protruding from his leg. Tarek tried to get up, but it was impossible, the pain was too intense.

"_**Tarek are you ok?!**_" Raven shouted in Tarek's mind. Tarek couldn't answer the dumb question as Mizuki began to walk towards him, kunai in hand. As he got halfway, he was suddenly stopped by Iruka as he slashed at him with his own kunai. Mizuki blocked it with the one in his hand and then tried to stab Iruka in the face. Iruka blocked it barely in time. This kunai fight continued for a while, both Chunin fighting ferociously. Then, just as Iruka made to stab Mizuki in the chest, Mizuki kicked Iruka's legs from under him. As Iruka began to fall face first, Mizuki plunged his kunai into Iruka's back. Iruka gasped as he felt the cold steel penetrate his body.

"Noooooo!" Naruto yelled as he watched all this happen. All of a sudden he felt anger, anger at Mizuki for hurting two of the people that Naruto cared about the most. He didn't even feel his hands develop into claws, his whisker marks getting more pronounced. Tarek, who was looking at Naruto, gasped as he saw Naruto's eyes change from azure blue to blood red, the irises becoming slits like a cat's or a foxes. Mizuki was also staring at Naruto, fear coursing through him as he felt the killing intent waving off of the boy.

"You will pay for that you Bastard!" Naruto roared, forming the ram hand sign.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

Smoke filled the whole clearing. As it faded away, Mizuki, Iruka and Tarek all gasped as they saw hundreds of Naruto's filling the clearing and the surrounding trees.

_He performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu and produced this many clones?! _Iruka thought weakly in disbelief. Mizuki watched in fear as suddenly all the clones charged towards him. He was no match for so many clones. By the time the clones were all finished and Naruto had cancelled out the Jutsu, Mizuki was lying on the floor, barely alive, having been beaten to a bloody pulp. Iruka and Tarek were just staring at Naruto in astonishment as he made his way towards, his body returning to normal. Naruto bent down as he reached Iruka and examined the kunai in his back. He was no Medic Nin, but the kunai hadn't penetrated too deeply so Naruto decided pulling it out would be safe enough. Iruka yelled in pain as Naruto yanked the kunai out of his back. Naruto then made his way to Tarek and examined the wound on Tarek's leg. All the while, Tarek was staring at Naruto in astonishment. Naruto ignored this and pulled the shuriken out of Tarek's leg, causing him to hiss in pain. Obeying his silent request, Raven used some of the Silver swords power to heal the wound. After a few moments, the wound was fully healed and Tarek was able to stand again. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and cleaned his sword before sliding the blade back into its scabbard. No one had said a word to each other as all this was going on. After a few moments of silence, Naruto finally spoke up.

"So that's why everyone hates me. I am the Kyuubi reborn. I'm a demon just like the villagers say I am." Naruto said sadly. Hearing these words made Tarek furious. He walked straight up to Naruto and punched him in the face. Naruto recoiled and fell on the floor. Rubbing his mouth where Tarek had struck him, he stared up at Tarek waiting for more. He was surprised however when Tarek lifted him up and pulled him into a brotherly hug.

"Don't you dare call yourself that, you are no Demon; you are Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha." Tarek said quietly. Realising that Tarek wasn't going to forsake him because of the Kyuubi trapped inside of him, Naruto smiled and embraced the one he called brother. After a few moments, Iruka managed to get to his feet, wincing in pain from his many wounds as he did so. He then stumbled towards Naruto and Tarek and gripped both boys' shoulders. They both let go of each other and turned to face Iruka.

"Firstly, Naruto what Mizuki said was a complete lie. I never hated you. I hated the Kyuubi who attacked the village and killed my parents. You are not the Kyuubi, like Tarek said. In fact, I see both of you as my younger brothers." Iruka said looking at them both with unshed tears. Naruto and Tarek both remembered all the times Iruka would take them to eat Ramen and smiled. Iruka had become like an older brother to them.

"Secondly," Iruka continued "I am proud of the two of you, especially you Naruto, you managed to learn that Jutsu in only a few hours, that is amazing, and the amount of clones you produced I think qualify you as a ninja." Iruka reached up to his forehead protector and untied it from his head. He then placed it around a shocked Naruto's head and tied it in place.

"Congratulations Naruto, you are officially a ninja of Konoha an-oof!" Tarek stated proudly before getting grabbed by both Naruto and Tarek. They stayed like that for a few moments before finally letting go of him and staring up at him with wide smiles. Iruka grinned back at them.

"Let's head back to Konoha boys' we have to see the Hokage to return the scroll and to hand over Mizuki." Iruka said. Both boys nodded. Tarek took the scroll and slung it on his back while Naruto used his Shadow Clone Jutsu and had three of his clones carry Mizuki. Naruto then helped Iruka walk since he was wounded deeply. The three then turned and headed towards Konoha.

* * *

The Hokage smiled warmly as he watched the three of them heading back to Konoha through his Crystal ball. He had called off the search as soon as Naruto had defeated Mizuki. Pride for the two boys' was rushing through him. He was right to have placed Naruto and Tarek in the same home with Kakashi as the official guardian and Hiashi as the unofficial one. They had both developed into extraordinary boys' and knew that they could only continue to grow. 

"The Silver Sword Wielder and the Demon Container, what a remarkable pair." The Hokage muttered to himself before stopping the Chakra flow to the ball and awaiting Naruto, Tarek and Iruka's return.

* * *

Naruto and Tarek walked into class the next morning, both exhausted from lack of sleep but still with wide smiles on their faces. Hinata looked sadly down towards the door expecting only to see Tarek. Her eyes widened as she saw Naruto standing beside him with a forehead protector on symbolising he was a now a Genin. When the two finally reached the desk, Hinata jumped up and pulled Naruto into a hug. Naruto was completely taken aback for a moment before finally embracing her. She then stared into his azure eyes and asked the one question that she wanted an answer to. 

"How?" She asked without stuttering.

Chuckling, Naruto and Tarek told her the whole story, omitting the facts about the Kyuubi. When they had finished, Hinata was staring wide eyed at Naruto.

"What's the matter Hinata, lost for words?" Naruto teased lightly, giving her a foxy grin. Then they both suddenly realised that they were still holding each other, and the fact that the whole class was staring at them in silence. Tarek couldn't hold back his laughter and let it all out. Naruto, who had finally let go of Hinata, was blushing furiously and he glared at Tarek as he held his stomach in pain from laughing so hard. He only laughed even harder when Hinata, face crimson from embarrassment, promptly fainted. Naruto had grabbed a hold of her before she could fall to the ground. The whole class just stared at the three of them as if they were crazy. A few moments later, Iruka limped into the classroom, only to see the whole class staring at a glaring Naruto who was holding an unconscious Hinata and a laughing Tarek. Iruka sighed heavily.

"Good morning class." Iruka said deciding to ignore what was going on. Tarek finally stopped laughing, but he had a huge grin on his face, and every time he turned to look at Naruto and a just woken up Hinata, his face would twitch as if he was trying to suppress his laughter. Naruto grumbled under his breath while Hinata just twiddled her fingers, her face still crimson.

"Well class, again, I want to congratulate you all on passing the graduation exam. I hope that you will all uphold the honour of a ninja, and maybe someday, become great ninja that will go down in history." He paused to let all that sink in. After a few moments he continued.

"Now it is time to assign you to your Genin teams. Each squad will be a three man cell with a Jounin instructor, though there will be an exception, but I will explain when I come to that. These teams were chosen by myself and the Hokage and they cannot be changed, so please do not ask me to change them once you have been set in your teams." Iruka paused once more to look at all of them. His gaze lingered on the three in the back and he smiled widely. He then looked down at his clipboard.

"Ok, Team 1, Fenrir Rayoku…"

As Iruka begun to list the teams, Hinata put her hands together in silent prayer. When she had seen Naruto with a forehead protector, her hopes had been renewed.

_Oh please, please let Naruto be on me and Tarek's team, please…_She prayed.

Naruto and Tarek were both thinking on similar thoughts, and they held their breath as Iruka got to Team 7.

"Team 7, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, your Jounin instructor will be Kakashi Hatake." All the girls apart from Hinata suddenly glared at Sakura, who was whooping for joy. Sasuke just stared at the wall broodingly while Kiba was yelling at Iruka to change the team. Naruto and Tarek felt a surge of disappointment as they realised that neither of them will have Kakashi as an instructor.

"Kiba, Shut up, Sakura sit back down." Iruka yelled angrily. He then looked back at the clipboard, and his smile returned.

"This years Team 8 will be a little different. Because we have an odd number in the class, it was decided between the Hokage and I that this years Team 8 will be a four man cell. Now listen closely." Iruka paused for a few moments leaving the class in suspense.

"Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto looked down at Iruka, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Tarek Swordstalker" Tarek looked at Naruto and gave him a thumbs up. Naruto grinned at Tarek.

"Hinata Hyuuga" Hinata just stared at Iruka in shock. Naruto and Tarek whooped and embraced her. She soon came out of her shock and gave a squeal of delight returning their embrace, not caring that the class was looking at them open mouthed.

"And Shino Aburame, your Jounin instructor will be Kurenai Yuhi." Iruka looked up at them and smiled as Naruto ran over to Shino's desk and literally dragged him to their desk. Shino's eyebrows were arched up in shock as he stared at his three team mates who had pulled him into their group hug. As Iruka looked down at his clipboard, he couldn't help but wonder what fate had in store for the Team in the future.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, Please review and tell me what you think of it. If I don't release another chpater before hand, Happy New Years!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Well heres the next chapter for you guys, hope you enjoy it. Anyway just want to say thanks to all those who have reviewed. I also want to thank once again Dragon Man 180 and THE HEE-HO KING for their continued support to the story. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

**By the way, I have exams coming up soon, so there may be a short or a long delay on the next chapter. I will try to write it up any chance I get.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neverwinter Nights 2

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* * *

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**Chapter 4**

Iruka finally managed to calm the newly formed Team 8 down long enough for him to call out the remaining team.

"Finally…Ok, since Team 9 are still in circulation from last year, Team 10 will consist of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Naru and Chouji Akimichi. Your Jounin instructor is Asuma Sarutobi." There was a sudden shriek, and everyone glanced to where it had come from. Ino was standing up from her seat, glaring at Iruka.

"How come the forehead girl gets to be on a team with Sasuke while I have the fatso and the lazy bum on my team?!" She asked angrily.

Iruka frowned at the irate blond girl. "We picked these teams based on individual abilities and their overall progress in the academy. Your team goes well together as your fathers have proven when they were in their Genin cell. I also explained to you before I read them out that the teams could not be changed, so do not bother demanding me to change them." Iruka replied cutting off all of her protests. Ino sat back down in her seat in a huff and glared at Sakura who had a giant smirk on her face.

Iruka cleared his throat before addressing the class once more.

"Your Jounin instructors will arrive in a few moments. I wish you all the best of luck and I hope you do your best on the field." With a last parting smile to the mostly joy filled Team 8, Iruka vanished in a flurry of leaves. As soon as he had gone, the class broke out into chatter; some annoyed and upset with their team placing while others were content or over the moon. All the girls except for Hinata were glaring at Sakura who was completely ignoring Kiba and trying to woo Sasuke. Naruto, Tarek and Hinata were chatting happily together and even managed to get Shino slightly involved in their conversation. Naruto was staring at Hinata's joy filled eyes as she laughed at a joke Tarek had just told her.

_I have never seen Hinata this happy before, why does it make my stomach flutter seeing her so happy? _Naruto thought puzzled. As he pondered the thought, Tarek glanced in his direction with a smirk. He had seen Naruto looking at Hinata differently, and it gave him hopes for Hinata.

_Maybe finally the dense idiot will work it out and realise his own feelings for her as well._ Tarek thought.

"_**This is only the first step I'm afraid. As you know, Naruto had grown up for five years without anyone to care for him. He may have developed a brotherly bond with you, but this is completely different since his interactions with the opposite gender have been limited, much like yours actually.**_" Raven told him with a smirk. Tarek glared at his grandfather with his minds eye.

_Seriously, when do you think Naruto will finally realise his own feelings for her?_ Tarek asked his grandfather after a few moments of glaring at him.

"_**He probably won't ever realise his feelings for her until Hinata works up the courage to tell him herself.**_" Raven answered after pondering the question a few moments.

Tarek snorted mentally at that _Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. She is just too shy_

"_**You never know, Hinata may surprise you. Now when are you going to get yourself a girl to settle down with?**_" Raven asked grinning maliciously.

Tarek spluttered out loud at that question, causing Hinata and Shino to look at him questioningly. Naruto rolled his eyes realising that he must have been talking to his grandfather. Tarek was saved the trouble of coming up with a plausible explanation when the classroom door suddenly opened. The whole class went silent as a man with a black beard, black hair and onyx coloured eyes walked in accompanied with a woman with raven coloured hair and bright red eyes. The woman glanced around the room before finally asking "Team 8?"

Naruto, Tarek, Hinata and Shino stood up silently staring at the woman. Nodding the woman addressed them.

"I am Kurenai Yuhi, your Jounin instructor, follow me please." She walked back towards the door and waited for them to follow. Team 8 made their way towards their instructor. When they passed Team 7's desk, Naruto and Tarek glanced in their direction and smirked slightly.

_Their in for a _very _long wait _Naruto thought inwardly chuckling. Naruto and Tarek both knew all too well about Kakashi's poor time keeping and knew that Team 7 will probably not see him for at least two-three hours. As soon as Team 8 had reached Kurenai, she nodded to them silently before leading them out of the classroom. Tarek wondered what this instructor will be like and couldn't help but feel a little sullen that Kakashi wasn't their team's instructor.

_Ahh well, at least the three of us are together on the same team_ Tarek thought grinning slightly. They left the academy building and followed Kurenai to the corner of the yard where the swing was. Naruto, Tarek and Hinata smiled gently as they reminisced about all the times they sat there. Kurenai leaned against the tree and looked back at the four of them and smiled kindly.

"Take a seat." She told them in a kind vibrant voice. Once they had all seated themselves, she continued.

"Ok now why don't you all tell me about yourselves, you know, your likes, dislikes and dreams for the future. I'll go first. My name is Kurenai Yuhi; I am a Jounin who specialises in various types of Genjutsu. I like gardening and studying psychology. I dislike smoking and people who think women cannot be effective ninja. I have no dreams or ambitions worth noting. Now it's your turn." She said looking at each of them.

Naruto decided to go first. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like training, hanging with my friends and eating Ramen. My dislikes are people who judge others before they get to know them. My dream is to one day become Hokage so that I can protect this village and those who are precious to me." Kurenai smiled and nodded at this. She knew all about Naruto's dream to be Hokage and she could understand his dislike for people who judge before getting to know someone. Tarek spoke up next.

"My name is Tarek Swordstalker, I also like training and hanging with my friends, In addition I enjoy reading literature. I also dislike people who judge others before they get to know them and I especially hate people who look down on someone because of birth defects. My ambition is to restore the Swordstalker clan and to gain equal rights for those with birth defects." Tarek said determination rushing through him. Kurenai nodded her head in respect.

_Oh how could the villagers have been so cruel to these two boys'?!_ Kurenai thought, half angrily, half sadly. She knew about both secrets the boys held, The Hokage had told her about Tarek this morning. Especially the fact that as a side effect of having the Silver sword sealed inside of him, Tarek had shimmering silver eyes which he had to keep hidden from everyone else. She looked towards the other person who was wearing heavily tinted sunglasses.

"My name is Shino Aburame; I like to study different Insects. I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. My ambition is to develop my own insect techniques with the help of my hive." Shino said stoically.

_Hmm...Not much of a talker obviously _Kurenai thought before finally turning her gaze to Hinata. Hinata was nervously twiddling her fingers and had her head down. After a few moments of waiting for her to speak, Kurenai was about ready to coax her when Naruto put his hand on Hinata's shoulder. Startled, Hinata turned her head to look at Naruto, her face turning crimson. Naruto just gave her one of his foxy grins. Hinata slowly smiled in return then sat up straighter and looked at Kurenai directly in the eye. Kurenai had watched the two intently and was now smiling broadly.

_Well, well, isn't that interesting _Kurenai thought.

"M-my name is H-Hinata H-Hyuuga. I like t-to be with my friends and I like t-to p-press flowers. I-I dislike people who think t-that others are w-weak and people w-who hurt o-others for no reason. M-my ambition is to r-rid my clan of the Branch house c-cursed seal and t-to be t-the next clan h-head." Hinata managed to stutter out. As soon as she was finished she went back to twiddling her fingers.

_She obviously has a confidence problem, but Naruto seems to boost it. She obviously has a crush on the boy _Kurenai thought. She turned her thoughts to analyzing her team.

"Alright since we have all gotten to know each other, I want you all to meet me tomorrow at Training Ground 8. I want to see exactly what sort of skills you all have so I would like you all to meet me there bright and early at 7:00 am tomorrow. Do you have any questions?" Kurenai waited a few moments but no one asked any.

"Ok, well until tomorrow you are free to do what you want, Tarek, can you come with me a moment please?" Kurenai asked. Tarek looked at her in puzzlement for a few moments before nodding. Naruto, Hinata and Shino watched as Tarek and Kurenai left through the academy gates. Naruto frowned wondering why Kurenai would only want to see Tarek. Shrugging it off since he could always find out later, he smiled and turned his head to face both Shino and Hinata.

"So how about we go and celebrate the birth of our team, Tarek will join us later. Ichiraku's Ramen stand sound good to you guys?" Naruto asked them both eagerly.

Shino stood up. "Sorry Naruto, I will have to decline." He said stoically before leaving through the same gates as Tarek and Kurenai had. Naruto seemed a little dejected for a moment before smiling once more and turning to gaze at Hinata.

"How about you Hinata, you want to come with me, my treat?"

Hinata's face turned bright crimson and she looked at Naruto in astonishment. _A meal with Naruto. Just the two of us?! Yes!_ Hinata thought triumphantly, twiddling her fingers all the while.

"Y-yes Naruto, I-I would r-really l-like that." Hinata stuttered quietly.

Naruto smiled broadly. "Great let's go!" Naruto shouted taking her hand and dragging her towards the gate. Hinata was stunned that Naruto had taken her hand, since he had not done this since they were eight years old. _Is it possible that Naruto likes me?_ Hinata thought hopefully.

* * *

Kurenai and Tarek finally arrived at their destination. Tarek was surprised. 

_Why are we going to see the Hokage? _Tarek thought looking up at the Hokage tower in front of him. Kurenai hadn't said a word to him and continued to lead him inside. As they were walking up the stairs, Tarek tried to talk to his grandfather, wondering if he knew what this was about, but his grandfather was strangely silent. Puzzled at this, Tarek didn't notice that they had arrived at the Hokage's office. He was eventually pulled from his thoughts when Kurenai put her hand on his shoulder. Startled Tarek turned his head to look at her. She gave him a small smile.

"Tarek, the Hokage wishes to speak with you alone. I'll be waiting out here for you ok?" She said softly.

Tarek just nodded and knocked on the door to the Hokage's office, all the while wondering what the hell this was all about.

"Come in." The Third Hokage called from inside. Steeling himself, Tarek opened the door and walked inside. The Hokage was sitting at his desk, smoking from his pipe. He smiled as Tarek walked in and returned the young Genin's bow. He noticed that Tarek's eyes were on the package in front of him, and he smiled to himself.

"You wished to see me Lord Hokage?" Tarek asked politely after a few moments of silence.

"Yes Tarek, I wished to discuss with you a very important matter." The Hokage replied, putting down his smoking pipe. He then continued.

"You see Tarek, after the attack on your family we found a will written by your father. It clearly stated that if anything should happen to the family, Konoha was to take you in and train you as a Leaf-nin. It also stated in the will that only when you have become a Genin can you receive your birthright."

Tarek looked at the Hokage in puzzlement _Birthright? What birthright? _Tarek thought wondering why his grandfather had never mentioned this before. He shook himself from his thoughts when the Hokage began to speak once more.

"You see Tarek, though I cannot claim to know everything about your clan, I do know that every member of the Swordstalker clan had their own birthright. That birthright is a sword that could only be wielded by the one person it was made for. I do not know the exact details of how this was possible; however I do know that these swords were precious to your clan and that no two swords were ever the same." The Third Hokage picked up the package on his desk and held it out.

"Tarek, as followed from the directions in your fathers will, I hereby hand you your birthright." The Hokage stated formerly. Completely speechless, Tarek numbly walked to the Hokage's desk. Once there, he gently took the package from the Hokage's hands, and with his own hands trembling, he began to remove the packaging. The Hokage watched silently as Tarek finally removed the last of the packaging. He stared at the scabbard which had a complex design. In the centre of the design was some kind of crest.

"The crest is your families." The Hokage said in a barely audible whisper. Tarek studied the crest. It was a sword with a golden hilt and a jagged silver blade. With a start, he realised that his crest was the Silver sword of Gith. Bringing his attention away from the scabbard, Tarek stared at the weapon's hilt. It was the hilt for a Katana. It had a flame coloured handle, and on the pommel was a shimmering flame coloured gem. Fingers shaking in excitement, Tarek gripped the swords hilt and slowly slid it out of the scabbard. He was astonished to find that the sword was so well balanced. Tarek stared down at the blade, a blade of finely polished steel that allowed him to see his own reflection. As he held it up to the sunlight streaming from the office window, something happened that the Hokage and Tarek would never forget for the rest of their lives. The gem flared brightly and fire slowly consumed the blade. Once the fire had reached the tip of the blade, a blazing image of a bird appeared at the tip. The bird screeched loudly, and Tarek heard a musical voice in his mind.

"_**I am the Blazing Phoenix!**_" The voice sang triumphantly. Then with a bright orange flash, the bird disappeared and the fire slowly crawled back down the blade until it vanished entirely. The fiery gems flare died down to its previous shimmer. For several minutes, the Hokage and Tarek just stared at the Katana in astonishment. Finally the Hokage managed to recover from his shock and felt gratitude to Kami that he was granted this once in a lifetime sight. He noticed that Tarek was still staring at the blade in shock. The Hokage began to chuckle, bringing Tarek back to reality.

"Well, that was certainly very impressive." The Hokage said quietly. Tarek looked at him dumbfounded.

_Impressive is a bit of an understatement _Tarek thought.

"What…What Happened?" Tarek asked turning his gaze back to the sword.

"I do not know…" The Hokage said turning serious once more.

Suddenly the door burst open and in stepped a kid of about ten years old with brown hair and onyx coloured eyes. Around his neck was a big blue scarf that hung down to his feet. He held a kunai in his hand and was looking directly at the Hokage, a look of triumph on his face.

"Now your mine! I will be the Next Hokage!" The boy yelled before charging towards the Hokage. He only got about half way through the room when he tripped over his huge scarf, falling face first to the floor. Tarek arched an eyebrow in confusion.

_Who the hell is this kid?_ He thought puzzled, lowering his new Katana. He glanced back at the Hokage and was surprised to see him with his head in his hands, muttering something to himself. Even more confused than he already was, Tarek looked back at the boy who was making his way back to his feet. Once the boy was back to his feet, he glared at Tarek and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You tripped me up didn't you?!" The boy yelled accusingly.

Tarek arched his eyebrow once more. "I didn't trip you; you tripped over your own scarf." Tarek replied quietly.

"Yeah right, you just wanted to embarrass me!" The boy yelled.

Tarek sighed and turned his back to the kid who continued to yell at him. He slid his new Katana back into its scabbard then turned his gaze to the Hokage. He was about to renew his conversation with the Hokage when Kurenai and a man wearing a bandanna and dark sunglasses rushed in to the room. Kurenai's face was bright red and when she saw the kid with the scarf, she glared at him with daggers in her eyes. She grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and lifted him so he was facing her. A look of fear crossed the boy's face as he saw Kurenai's death glare. The man in the bandanna was demanding her to let go of the boy but she just gave him a glare which shut him up. She then turned her glare back to the boy who was desperately trying to get out of her grip.

"You…little…brat!" Kurenai yelled before hitting him across the head. The blow sent the boy flying into one of the Hokage's book shelves, knocking it down in the process. Tarek looked at his sensei in amazement and a little fear.

_Note to self; never ever make her angry _Tarek thought.

"_**Agreed…That is one woman you do **_**not **_**want to ever have angry at you**_" Raven said fearfully.

Tarek was interrupted from demanding why his grandfather didn't answer him earlier when the man in the bandanna ran towards the kid.

"Honourable grandson!" The man shouted. Once he had picked the dazed boy up he turned and glared at Kurenai.

"How dare you, he is the Hokage's grandson, and you hit him?!" The man yelled at her. Kurenai and Tarek were both surprised. They glanced at the Hokage and then back at the boy.

_I honestly can't see any resemblance _Tarek thought.

The Hokage sighed and lowered his hands from his head He turned his gaze to the boy who seemed to have recovered from Kurenai's blow.

"Konohamaru, as much as I enjoy your company, I would prefer you did not come to see me when I am in the middle of a meeting, Besides, isn't Ebisu suppose to be teaching you right now?" The Hokage asked turning his gaze to the man in the bandanna. Ebisu began to sweat slightly.

"H-he just got away from me for a moment Lord Hokage. It won't happen again." Ebisu answered bowing low to him.

The Hokage sighed "Very well. Now Tarek, do you have any other questions?"

"Not at this moment in time Lord Hokage. I thank you for the gift. If I find out anything about…what happened, I promise to let you know" Tarek replied bowing low.

The Hokage nodded "Very well, you are dismissed Tarek. I daresay you want to go and celebrate with your team mates." The Hokage said smiling.

Tarek grinned in response and bowed once more before leaving the room, Katana in hand. The Hokage then turned his gaze to Kurenai.

"Now Kurenai, can you explain to me what happened to make you lose your temper with Konohamaru?"

As Kurenai began to recount what Konohamaru had done, the boy in question was staring at the door which Tarek had just walked through.

_Grandfather was having a private meeting with him and gave him a sword? He must be really strong! He could help me become Hokage in no time! _Konohamaru thought excitedly.

* * *

Tarek left the Hokage tower and made his way to Konoha's park. He wanted to have a talk with his grandfather and didn't want to be interrupted. A few minutes later, he was sitting on a bench underneath some oak trees. Closing his eyes he saw the familiar silver mist he always did when coming to the Silver swords mindscape. He waited for the mist to dissipate, revealing the silver training hall and walked up to his grandfather who was sitting down, legs crossed, meditating. He sat down in front of his grandfather, getting in the same position, and waited patiently for his grandfather to address him. After a few moments, Raven opened his eyes and regarded his grandson. 

"_**I take it you have some questions?**_" Raven asked.

Tarek nodded before finally asking "Why didn't you tell me that I had a sword made for me?"

Raven sighed before finally answering "_**Because until now I didn't see the need to tell you about it, and I wasn't sure whether or not it was lost during the attack or if your father sent it to Konoha for safe keeping. Evidently, he did the latter.**_"

Tarek nodded, though he still felt a little annoyance about not being told about the sword. His thoughts turned to what happened in the Hokage tower.

"What happened when I drew the sword?" Tarek asked quietly.

Raven rubbed the back of his head and grinned at his grandson. "_**When you drew the sword, it recognised you. So what happened is called the sword naming ceremony. It is a ceremony where the Swordstalker learns their swords true name. The blazing bird or Phoenix was your sword revealing its true nature to you.**_"

He then chuckled. "_**I remember an occasion where one of your cousin's swords revealed its true nature by flooding the entire building. I decided then that **_**all **_**naming ceremonies will take place outside, well it was more like your grandmother decided since she wasn't very happy about the incident to say the least.**_"

Tarek smiled at this but it soon turned into a puzzled frown. "How are these swords made?" He asked curiously.

"_**When a Swordstalker is born, the head of the clan tests the newborns chakra element. In your case, your chakra element is fire. We then take some of the newborns blood and place it on the Silver sword. The Silver sword then glows the colour of the persons element and produces a gem of the same colour. Don't ask me how, because no one knows how it does this. At any rate, we then make a sword depending on what the parents wish their newborn to use and place the gem in the pommel. When the Swordstalker is then deemed old enough, the sword is given to them and the naming ceremony occurs where the Swordstalker learns their swords true name.**_" Raven answered.

Tarek still had a puzzled frown. "So my swords true name is 'Blazing Phoenix'?"

Raven nodded his head in confirmation. After a few moments of silence, Raven finally spoke up again, changing the subject.

"_**Yesterday, you finally mastered Sword Art: Crimson Wave, so I think now you are ready to learn the Sword Art Elements. Since your chakra and your sword are aligned with fire, I will teach you Sword Art Element: Flametongue. With your natural affinity to fire it shouldn't take you too long to learn and master it. The difficulty comes when I teach you the Flametongue Release: Firebrand, but we can worry about that once you have mastered the Sword Art Element.**_"

Tarek suddenly felt excited. He had been waiting to start learning the Sword Art Elements for a long time and the prospect of learning the Flametongue release made him want to cry out in joy. He refrained from doing so however, knowing that his grandfather would be annoyed.

"_**Now I would say we will begin training now, however, I know that you wish to meet your friends so once you have met them, we will begin training at the usual training ground. Oh and before I forget, don't let anyone else touch the sword. It is tied with you, so if anyone else touched it would burn them severely.**_" Raven said signifying the end of their conversation.

Tarek nodded and said farewell before pulling himself away from the Silver swords mindscape.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata parted the curtains to Ichiraku's Ramen stand and took two seats in the corner. Ayame noticed the stands best customer and one of his best friends sitting there and smiled warmly at them both before walking towards them. 

"Hey Naruto, Hinata, I see you both passed your Genin exams, congratulations!" "Thanks Ayame, but I didn't pass the Genin exams." Naruto replied, one of his foxy grins on his face. Ayame looked at him in puzzlement, her eyes drifted to his forehead protector.

"If you didn't pass, how have you got a forehead protector signifying that you're a ninja of Konoha Naruto?"

Naruto, with his foxy grin still on his face began to go over the events of the previous night to her and the chef Teuchi who had just joined them. He made sure that anything about the Kyuubi wasn't mentioned. He did not want the people that were precious to him to look at him with hatred or fear in their eyes, for he knew it would break him. Once Naruto had finished, he noticed that Ayame and Teuchi were staring at him, shock and awe evident on their faces.

"T-that's amazing Naruto, I can't believe you managed to survive that encounter." Teuchi said gravely.

Naruto's foxy grin fell and he took on a sombre expression.

"I wouldn't have survived if Tarek and Iruka-sensei hadn't been there to help." He said quietly.

Teuchi and Ayame were surprised to see Naruto so sombre. They had always seen him with a smile on his face and seeing him sombre like this had them worried. Hinata only gazed at Naruto sadly. For the first time ever, he was letting his mask down in front of the people he cared about. She had always been able to see through his mask even though he had never realised it. Building up her courage, Hinata gripped Naruto's shoulder with her right hand. Naruto gave her a look of gratitude that made Hinata's heart soar. After a few moments of silence, Naruto shook his head and gave them all one of his foxy grins.

"Ahh well, anyway, one Miso Ramen for me and one Beef Ramen for Hinata please." Naruto said rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Hinata took her hand off of his shoulder while Ayame wrote down their order and Teuchi returned to the back where he was cooking, both of them with thoughtful expressions on their faces. Naruto and Hinata just talked about little things while their Ramen was being made. A few minutes later, Ayame brought over their Ramen, and they said their thanks. They both ate in silence, both deep in thought. Hinata glanced at Naruto who continued to eat with a smile on his face, his azure eyes glowing. Hinata sighed. Oh how she wished she could lose herself in those eyes, to be held by him with love, not just friendship.

_Were alone…Now would be a great time to tell him how I feel. But what if he doesn't feel the same way? _Hinata thought sadly. She wouldn't be able to handle it if Naruto rejected her and then stopped being her friend.

_But…what if I never tell him and I lose the chance to be with him. Oh what do I do? _Hinata thought not knowing where to turn. Naruto glanced in her direction, noticing that she had stopped eating.

"What's wrong Hinata?" Naruto asked knowing she had something on her mind.

Hinata jumped and her face turned crimson. "N-nothing Naruto, its n-nothing." She managed to stutter out giving him a shy smile.

Naruto put down his chopsticks and leaned in closer to her. "There is obviously something bothering you Hinata, come on you can tell me." Naruto said quietly with one of his foxy grins.

Hinata was beginning to panic. She just couldn't tell him how she felt, she couldn't. She suddenly felt herself beginning to black out. Naruto noticed this and grabbed her shoulders.

"Come on Hinata don't faint on me now." Naruto said shaking her slightly.

This seemed to help, and Hinata remained conscious though her face was a darker crimson because of how close Naruto's face was to her own. Oblivious to this, Naruto leaned in a little closer.

"Now come on, tell me what's bothering you." He asked quietly. Hinata stared into Naruto's eyes, her heartbeat and her breathing becoming quicker. As Naruto stared into Hinata's lavender-white eyes, he felt his heartbeat quicken and was puzzled over why. They stayed like that a few moments, not realising that Ayame and Teuchi were holding their breath and were watching them with wide eyes filled with anticipation. As Naruto continued to stare into her eyes, he suddenly felt the urge to lower his head further so that their lips were touching.

_What the hell?! Why would I want to kiss Hinata, she's one of my best friends! _Naruto thought fighting the urge. However the longer he stared into Hinata's eyes, the stronger the urge became, and before he knew it his head was slowly lowering. Hinata's eyes widened as she realised that Naruto was lowering his head towards her.

_Is Naruto…is Naruto going to kiss me?! _Hinata thought. This had only ever happened in her dreams. Feeling joy rush through her, Hinata closed her eyes and slowly lifted her head to meet his. Teuchi and Ayame gasped as they watched the two friends inching closer and closer. Just as their lips were about to touch however, Tarek parted the curtain carrying his new Katana in one hand and smiling broadly.

"Figured I would find you guys here what…" He stopped, his eyebrows arching so much that his eyes were partially visible above the glasses. As soon as they heard Tarek's voice, Naruto jumped back away from Hinata, his face crimson, and started eating his Ramen once more, ignoring the fact that it had gone cold. Hinata had her eyes open wide and her face was a never before-seen-shade of crimson. She also turned back to her Ramen and began to eat once more. As Naruto ate his Ramen, he couldn't help but feel some resentment for his friend, and he didn't understand why. Tarek just stared at them both as they silently ate their Ramen. Finally shaking himself from his shock Tarek grinned slyly and took a seat beside Naruto. He was about to open his mouth to comment when suddenly Ayame gave him a glare that promised pain if he made a single comment about what he just saw. Gulping, Tarek decided to keep his mouth shut. A few moments later, Ayame placed Tarek's usual order down in front of him and after saying his thanks Tarek began to eat silently. After a few moments of awkward silence, Naruto finally looked in Tarek's direction and smiled as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Tarek, so what did Kurenai-sensei want to talk to you about?" He asked curiously. Hearing this question, Hinata turned her face in their direction, her expression curious despite her face still glowing. After finishing his mouthful of Ramen, Tarek glanced in their direction.

"Well it wasn't actually Kurenai-sensei who wanted to talk to me, it was the Lord Hokage." Tarek answered. Naruto stared at Tarek with a puzzled expression "What did the old man want to see you about?"

Tarek smiled at Naruto before picking up the Katana he had placed beside him and placing it on the counter. "This is what he wanted to see me about." Tarek answered. Naruto whistled in appreciation as he studied the scabbard and the Katana's hilt. Hinata leaned forward to get a better look and studied the shimmering flame coloured gem.

_That gem is beautiful. It shimmers much like Tarek's silver eyes do _Hinata thought. After a few moments of studying the sword, Naruto made to grab the hilt, but Tarek grabbed his wrist before he could. Naruto gazed at Tarek in confusion.

"If anyone touches the hilt other than me, it will burn them." Tarek explained. Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened at hearing this. After a few moments of silence spent staring at the sword on the counter, Naruto glanced once more in Tarek's direction.

"Ok so why did the old man want to give you a new sword? Is it an early birthday present or something?"

Tarek shook his head. "No, it's my birthright. The Katana is named 'Burning Phoenix' and Lord Hokage said that it's a sword that my clan had made for me when I was born." He explained.

"When y-you w-was born?" Hinata asked.

Tarek went on to explain everything the Hokage had told him, adding some of the information that his grandfather had given him, making sure to omit anything that had to do with the Silver sword. Hinata thought he was talking about the Hokage whenever he gave information his grandfather knew, but Naruto knew exactly who he was talking about. After Tarek had finished explaining, Naruto and Hinata both looked at the sword with thoughtful expressions. After a few moments of silent contemplation, Tarek finished the rest of his Ramen and stood up picking up Blazing Phoenix.

"Anyway, I'll see you later Naruto, I'm going to try this sword out. See you tomorrow Hinata. Bye Ayame, Teuchi." Tarek said smiling before parting the curtains and leaving. Naruto and Hinata watched him go before looking back at each other. Hinata's face turned crimson as she thought of how close Naruto and her came to kissing each other.

_It must mean he likes me! _Hinata thought, mentally dancing for joy. Naruto gave her one of his foxy grins and stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow Hinata, I'm going to get some training done." He said handing the money for the Ramen to Ayame before saying goodbye and leaving.

Hinata watched him go, confusion written across her face. Usually Naruto would ask her to go training with him, so why didn't he ask her today, and why didn't he mention anything about what they had nearly done? Puzzled and feeling a little upset, Hinata said goodbye to Ayame and Teuchi and headed home.

* * *

Naruto was slowly making his way to Training Ground 11, his thoughts whirling about chaotically in his mind. 

_Damn it, I came really close to kissing her, why would I want to kiss her? She's one of my best friends god damn it! It not as if I like her more than th-_ Naruto stopped abruptly.

_What if I do like her more than just a friend? What if I…_Naruto couldn't finish the thought. It was ridiculous. His thoughts suddenly turned to the villagers if they found out they were together. No, even if he did feel that way for her, he couldn't be with her. He would not allow her to be treated like he had been his whole life. Resolute in his decision, despite denying how he really felt, Naruto pulled a small scroll out of his pocket. Opening it he looked at the technique which was the reason he was heading to Training Ground 11.

_The Burning Rave, I didn't get an opportunity to learn it. Well all I can say is it's lucky that I brought a blank scroll with me last night _Naruto thought, studying the guidelines for the technique. The technique required a lot of Chakra, something Naruto could provide in abundance, but the technique also required a measure of chakra control, otherwise the technique could grow out of control. Knowing that his Chakra control was very poor, Naruto decided that he was going to try and improve it so that he could learn how to use the technique. The scroll recommended the 'Climbing Trees' exercise and had details on how to do it. Determined, Naruto closed the scroll and ran the rest of the way to the Training Ground.

* * *

Tarek swept his hand over Blazing Phoenix focusing his chakra into the blade. 

"**Sword Art Element: Flametongue!**"

Fire made from chakra suddenly blazed forth from the blade. Raven nodded and then threw kunai that had materialised into his hand. Tarek swung Blazing Phoenix in an arc and a tail of fire following after the blazing blade consumed the kunai just before they hit him, melting them instantly. Tarek then charged towards Raven who had materialised his own Katana. Tarek swung Blazing Phoenix down upon Raven's head, but Raven parried the incoming blade with his sword then made a thrust towards Tarek's midsection. Tarek spun back, deflecting the incoming blade, and then followed though the spin with a slash towards Raven's shoulder. Raven jumped back, his clothes slightly singed from the blazing blade. Raven made a move towards Tarek but stopped as he saw the fire dissipate from Tarek's blade.

"Damn it!" Tarek said scowling.

Chuckling, Raven held his sword at his side and walked towards Tarek. "_**You are doing very well Tarek, your control over the fire and the time you can keep it up has increased immensely. And to think, you only started learning how to do the jutsu two hours ago.**_" Raven said giving Tarek a proud smile.

Hearing the compliment made Tarek smile slightly. Worn out after two hours of constantly using the jutsu, Tarek placed Blazing Phoenix back into its scabbard and sat down on the shimmering silver floor. Raven sat down a few feet away from Tarek, laying his sword down on the floor. They sat there for a few minutes in silence until finally Tarek gazed at his grandfather, a question on his mind.

"What happened to your sword grandfather?"

Knowing exactly what Tarek was asking, Raven picked up the sword he was using once more and wordlessly held it up for Tarek to see. Tarek noticed immediately the lightning coloured gem on the Katana's pommel.

"_**This is it, a sword which has been with me for thirty six years, known as Divine Tempest.**_" Raven said with a reverent tone.

"So your affinity is to lightning grandfather?" Tarek asked.

Raven nodded, confirming Tarek's guess. They remained in silence a few minutes longer until finally, Raven stood up.

"_**Well let's continue, you-**_" He suddenly stopped and tilted his head as if listening to something.

Tarek frowned at his grandfathers puzzling behaviour. After a few moments waiting patiently for his grandfather, Tarek finally addressed him.

"Is there a problem grandfather?" Tarek asked.

After a few moments, Raven's head returned to its proper position and he regarded Tarek.

"_**It seems there is someone trying to wake you up. I'm surprised you didn't notice actually.**_" Raven said quietly.

Tarek frowned at this and concentrated on his mind. Suddenly a girl's voice came echoing through the hall.

_Come on wake up; oh please don't tell me you're dead._

Raven and Tarek both sighed dramatically. Then without a word to Raven, Tarek pulled his mind away from the Silver swords mindscape. He opened his eyes to see a girl with grey coloured eyes and brown hair tied in two buns at the top of her head, a Konoha forehead protector wrapped around her forehead, staring down at him with a concerned look. Noticing how close the girl's face actually was to his face made Tarek blush slightly and moving his head away, he sat up and stretched. He had been lying down underneath a tree at his usual Training Ground so that he could train with his grandfather undisturbed.

"Sorry about that, I must have drifted off to sleep when I was taking a break from training." Tarek lied, since he was feeling just as worn out as he was in the Silver swords mindscape.

"I tried to wake you up several times and you didn't answer, are you sure your ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I'm just a deep sleeper." He lied, standing up. He turned his head to gaze at her for a few moments. She wore a pink sleeveless shirt and wore green ninja trousers. On her back were two medium sized ninja scrolls and he noticed that she was twirling a kunai on her left forefinger. It was then he realised that she was looking directly at his eyes. He snapped his hand up to them and immediately noticed that he didn't have his heavily tinted sunglasses on.

"Looking for these?" the girl asked, smiling slightly holding up his glasses in her right hand. Realising that it was too late to cover up his eyes now, he waited for her to start calling him an abomination or a demon; however, what she said next shocked him completely.

"You know, you shouldn't keep your eyes covered up, they are nice to look at." She said with a small smile. She slowly stood up, still twirling the kunai on her left forefinger.

Tarek stared at her in shock, as she held out his sunglasses to him. He took them out of her hand and just held on to them, still staring at her. She hadn't been shocked or frightened like any of the villagers had been when they had seen his silver eyes all those years ago. She had been as accepting as Naruto and Hinata had been.

"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Tenten Agraweh, what's yours?" Tenten asked finally.

"My name is Tarek Swordstalker. Thank you for your concern about my well being." Tarek answered inclining his head to her and putting his glasses in his jacket pocket.

Her smile widened. "Well I couldn't exactly leave you there without making sure you were ok could I?"

Tarek chuckled at that. "I guess not."

"By the way what ninja rank are you?" She suddenly asked.

"Newly appointed Genin, why do you ask?" Tarek asked looking at her curiously.

"I was just curious; I noticed you had a forehead protector. I'm a Genin as well you know, a year your senior." She answered.

Tarek nodded, wondering if there were more reasons to why she asked. Mentally shrugging, Tarek bent down to pick up Blazing Phoenix. As soon as Tenten caught sight of the sword, her eyes lit up. Tarek turned around, sword in hand and was startled at the excited look in her eyes.

"May I look at it?" Tenten pleaded in a quiet child like voice.

Tarek arched an eyebrow wondering what on earth she was talking about.

"Your Katana, may I see it?" She asked again in the same child like voice.

Pondering for a few moments, Tarek finally nodded and drew Blazing Phoenix from its scabbard. She moved closer to him and studied it with awe filled eyes. After a few moments, her hand lifted as if to touch the sword.

"May I hold it?" she asked in a reverent voice, not taking her eyes off of the weapon.

Tarek found her fascination with Blazing Phoenix a little weird to say the least, so he slid the sword back into its scabbard, cries of protest coming from Tenten.

"Unfortunately, I am the only one who can wield it safely, Blazing Phoenix has a defence mechanism that stop's anyone but me from wielding it." Tarek explained.

"Blazing Phoenix, so that's your swords name." Tenten whispered her cries of protest ending after she heard its name.

Tarek nodded his head in amusement. Though her fascination was a little weird, he couldn't help but notice how cute she was with that dreamy look on her face. He blinked wondering where the thought had come from. Shrugging the thought away mentally, Tarek leaned against the tree and gazed at Tenten.

Tenten gazed back at Tarek with a sly look in her eye. "So you're a Sword master?" she asked Tarek, twirling her kunai once more.

Tarek shrugged "I wouldn't say master, but I'm working on it."

"Well it just so happens that I am a weapon master." She said with a small smirk. Suddenly she stopped twirling the kunai and with a speed that surprised Tarek, she tossed the kunai straight at him. Reacting instantly, he drew Blazing Phoenix quickly and knocked the kunai away. His gaze met hers and he saw a determined glint in her eye.

"Tarek Swordstalker, I challenge you to a duel." She said with a cold formal voice.

* * *

**Ok well hope you enjoyed, please review and tell me what you think of this chapter.**

**Note: If Tenten seemed a little OOC, then I apologise, I honestly do not know Tentens personality well and have tried to work with what I know. Hope you still enjoy the story despite this.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hiya Guys, first allow me to apologize for the really late update of this chapter. I had exams and only finished them last week. Also, I suffered from a bit of writers block halfway through the chapter adding to the time it took to publish this. I hope you all enjoy it despite the wait.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Neverwinter Nights 2

**

* * *

Chapter 5**

Tarek stared at Tenten in disbelief, not quite understanding what she said. "Excuse me?"

Tenten, ignoring him for the moment, slowly removed one of the scrolls from her back and opened it. Tarek's eyes widened as he realised that it was a weapons summoning scroll, and not just for one weapon. Biting her thumb to draw blood she ran it over one of the seals on the scroll. There was a sudden cloud of smoke hiding Tenten from view. After a few moments, the smoke cloud dissipated revealing Tenten spinning the scythe end of a Kusarigama above her head, holding the chain that connected to the weight end. Tenten was gazing right at him with the same smirk she had worn when she had tossed the kunai at him.

"I said I challenge you to a duel, your weapon against mine." Tenten finally replied in the same cold formal voice she had used when she first issued the challenge.

Tarek regarded her a few moments longer then sighed in disgust. He slowly lowered Blazing Phoenix and picked up the scabbard he had dropped while drawing the blade.

"Sorry, I'm not interested" Tarek replied coolly, beginning to slide Blazing Phoenix back into its scabbard.

Tenten's smirk turned to a frown. "It's not up for discussion!" She yelled angrily before throwing the Scythe end of the Kusarigama straight at him. Tarek dropped his scabbard and blocked the Scythe with Blazing Phoenix, making the scythe recoil back towards Tenten. Tenten caught the scythe and began to swing the weighted end quickly. Tarek watched her spin the weight grimly. It looked like he had no choice but to fight her. And the worst of it was the fact that he was at a distinct disadvantage against her weapon of choice. The Kusarigama was a weapon designed to immobilize an opponent with the chain, especially those who used swords and spears. He had to try and get close to her, and that was going to be difficult with the Kusarigama being a long distance weapon. Sure he could use Sword Art: Climhazzard, and if he cut himself, Sword Art: Crimson Wave, but those jutsu were way too dangerous, especially since he didn't know how fast she really was, although seeing how quickly she was using her weapon she was probably pretty fast.. He was interrupted from his thoughts when the weighted end suddenly flew towards him. Tarek jumped backwards, and when the weight hit the ground where he had been standing, Tarek charged towards her. Tenten reeled the weight back in quickly and then threw it straight at him again. Tarek jumped backwards once more to avoid the weight and began his charge once more. This continued for a few minutes, Tarek trying different ways to get past her weight but failing every time. Finally, Tenten decided enough was enough. Spinning the weight above her head to get enough momentum, Tenten tossed the weight at Tarek once more. As Tarek moved to jump back, he suddenly felt that he couldn't. Startled he looked at Blazing Phoenix and realized that Tenten had managed to wrap her chain around the blade. He looked up to see her closing in fast, scythe in hand. Tarek gritted his teeth, as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. He was about to give up and let go of Blazing Phoenix when suddenly he remembered something. Smirking, Tarek released one hand from his sword and then swept it over the blade, focusing his chakra into it.

"**Sword Art Element: Flametongue!**"

The blade suddenly blazed and instantly melted the chain. He then swung the blade, throwing the goblets of liquid metal directly at an astonished Tenten. Tenten dropped the scythe and rolled out of the way, pulling out her weapon scroll in the process. As Tarek charged toward her with his blazing sword, Tenten quickly opened the scroll and ran her bleeding thumb over another weapon seal. The smoke cleared to reveal Tenten holding a Katana. She ran and met Tarek head on parrying Blazing Phoenix with her own Katana.

_Thank god dad gave me this chakra enhanced Katana…That blow could have killed me__ with that fire surrounding the blade! _Tenten thought in relief.

Wincing at the heat emitting from the blade, Tenten countered the blow to her head with a slash at his midsection. Tarek blocked this slash and countered with a spinning overhead blow, puzzled over why Tenten's Katana had not yet been seared in half. Tenten quickly blocked the overhead blow and spun aiming a thrust at his chest. With a speed and skill that Tenten had never before seen on a person, Tarek blocked the blow, spinning his body so that Blazing Phoenix could meet her Katana. He quickly spun a second time and followed it through with a slash to her left shoulder. Tenten jumped back as quickly as she could, the blade barely missing her. As she landed she suddenly felt a searing pain on her left shoulder which brought her to her knees. Hissing she turned her head and saw her shoulder was burned. Tarek stopped immediately and walked towards her, concern evident in his eyes, the fire on Blazing Phoenix dissipating. Before he could get any closer however, Tenten jumped up and came at him more fiercely with an overhead blow, a determined glint in her eye. Surprised, only Tarek's reflexes saved him as he blocked Tenten's Katana though he did it rather clumsily. Berating himself for letting his guard down, Tarek, determined more than ever, countered by beginning a complex series of maneuvers which put Tenten on the defensive. Tenten was barely keeping up with his speed and the complexity of the maneuvers had her blocking some of the strikes rather clumsily. It didn't help that each strike made her arms shake from the strength of them, and it only led to her arms slowly getting heavy, and her counter strikes getting sluggish. The burn on her shoulder wasn't helping matters either, often dangerously cutting off some of her blocks and counters. She realized that Tarek as far as swordsmanship goes was way out of her league. She had thought that using a Kusarigama would give her an advantage and had never thought that he had a jutsu which could melt normal metal. Likewise, when she had summoned her chakra enhanced Katana, she had thought that she could at least fight against him at an equal level, if not better, only to discover that she had been sorely mistaken. Jumping back from a thrust aimed at her midsection, Tenten decided that if she couldn't beat him in relatively close combat, then she would have to beat him with _that _jutsu. Sticking her Katana into the ground, she jumped away from a charging Tarek and removed both of her scrolls. Tarek got into a ready stance, puzzled at what she was planning to do. Opening up both scrolls she suddenly gave him a warm smile.

"You really are a brilliant swordsman, especially for a rookie Genin." She said sincerely.

Taken aback by the compliment in the middle of a battle, Tarek could only nod his head in gratitude. Her face then turned into a serious expression, the determined glint in her eye returning once more.

"However, no matter _how _good you are, this technique will finish this battle once and for all." With those final words, Tenten placed the scrolls on the ground and began doing hand seals, finishing by crossing her arms.

"**Rising Twin Dragons!**"

Two dragons made of smoke suddenly shot into the air twisting and turning until finally reverting to fully opened scrolls. Tarek's eyes widened when he saw how many weapon seals there were on the fully opened scrolls. Tenten jumped so fast she was barely visible to Tarek and then hung motionless at the top of the scrolls. She then began running her hands over the weapon seals, various weapons appearing in small clouds of smoke. Then she began tossing them at Tarek, replacing a weapon she had thrown with another from a different weapon seal. Tarek's eye's widened at the barrage of weapons coming his way and he jumped backwards. However this didn't stop the barrage, as Tenten only had to adjust her aim. Dodging the continuous barrage and knowing that he had no choice, the Sword Art Element: Flametongue unable to melt all of those weapons, Tarek opened his palm and cut it open with Blazing Phoenix. Wincing at the pain, he made sure the sword had enough blood on it before focusing his chakra on the blood.

"**Sword Art: Crimson Wave!**"

Tenten, wondering why he had cut his palm open, widened her eyes in shock as he swung the blade sending a blood red wave shooting from the bloodied blade. The wave consumed her weapons and kept coming towards her. Face pale, Tenten frantically cancelled the jutsu and slowly dropped to the ground, the blood red wave cutting the top half of the scrolls in half and shooting past her, barely missing her. She landed on the ground heavily and stared at Tarek, brandishing two kunai she had been about to throw when she had had to cancel the jutsu, the two halves of each scroll landing on the floor on either side of her. Her shocked mind was going over what he had done.

_He managed to counter my best jutsu. Only Neji has ever been able to do that and that's only because of his Kaiten_ She thought as she stared at Tarek with awe filled eyes.

Weary from lack of chakra; Tarek grimaced in satisfaction before charging towards her once more. Acting quickly, Tenten threw the kunai in her left hand at him and made a bid towards the Katana she had left in the ground. With a sudden burst of speed that surprised both of them, Tarek shot past the incoming kunai and stopped in front of her, Blazing Phoenix inches away from her neck. They both did nothing but stare into each others eyes for a few moments, both panting heavily. Finally Tarek gave her a small smile.

"Looks…like it's…my win." He said breathlessly. His smile turned into a frown when he noticed her smirk and the mischievous glint in her eye. Suddenly he felt something tapping on his stomach. He looked down and his eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the flat part of the kunai she had held in her right hand patting him on the stomach. He lifted his head to gaze at her once more.

"Huh…a draw…damn…I was hoping to win." Tenten said breathlessly.

They stared at each other silently a few moments when finally it was broken by Tenten's laughter. After a few moments of staring at her as if she was mad, Tarek's expression suddenly lightened, no longer able to keep a serious face, and he began to chuckle. He didn't even know what was so funny, her laughter was just infectious. As they removed their weapons from each other, Tarek couldn't help but feel his heart pound heavily, not from exhaustion but at the musical tone of Tenten's laughter.

_Why would my heart feel so heavy from __just hearing her laugh?_ Tarek thought, puzzled, his chuckle slowly dieing.

Tenten noticed Tarek's thoughtful and far away expression and slowly stopped laughing catching her breath as she did so.

"What's on your mind Tarek?" Tenten asked cocking her head and giving him a small smile.

Tarek suddenly felt his cheeks grow warm and he cursed mentally as he realized he was blushing.

"I-I was just wondering how you managed to block Blazing Phoenix with your Katana when I used Sword Art Element: Flametongue." Tarek lied giving her a nervous smile.

Seeming to accept the lie, Tenten began to explain. "My father is a weapons smith. He reinforces some weapons with chakra to make them a lot more resilient. He gave me the Katana on the day I became a Genin." Tenten smiled fondly at the memory.

_That explains a lo__t, I'll have to be careful of that in the future when facing against enemy ninja _Tarek thought.

Tenten suddenly hissed in pain and held the arm that was connected to her burnt shoulder. Upon hearing her hiss Tarek immediately rushed forward and held his free hand out just over her burnt shoulder.

_Grandfather, is it possible to heal others wounds with the Silver sword? _Tarek asked mentally.

He didn't get an answer, instead he was startled to find his hand glowing silver and Tenten's burnt shoulder slowly healing. Taking that as an obvious yes, Tarek kept his hand over her shoulder until finally it was fully healed. Dropping his hand back to his side and taking a step back, he watched silently as Tenten, with an astonished look on her face began to experiment with her shoulder. After finding out it was just fine, Tenten gazed at him stunned.

"You know medical jutsu?"

Tarek looked uncomfortable for a moment before finally answering. "Yeah…"

Tenten was puzzled over why he looked so uncomfortable from such a simple question but shrugged it off.

"Well thank you, I wasn't looking forward to treating that burn myself." She said gratefully.

"It's the least I could do considering I am the one who gave you the burn." Tarek replied rubbing the back of his head.

Tenten giggled at that but then stopped and frowned when she glanced at his open palm.

"Wasn't that the hand you cut open to use that jutsu? Where is the wound?" she asked suspiciously.

Tarek cursed mentally as he realized his mistake. No Genin had enough skill with medical jutsu to heal an injury on the same hand they had used the medical jutsu on without using their other hand. He searched his thoughts for a valid excuse shouting at his Grandfather mentally to help him only to get no answer in return. Tenten narrowed her eyes and began tapping her foot impatiently waiting for his explanation.

"Tenten, your fires of youth shine strong this day!"

Tenten stopped her foot mid tap and groaned in despair. She slowly turned to see the racing figure of her teammate Rock Lee heading towards her. Rock Lee had wide circular onyx-colored eyes and huge black bushy eyebrows. His hair was the color black and was styled like a bowl. He wore a green spandex suit that made Tenten shudder just looking at it. His forehead protector was tied around his waist and he wore orange leg warmers around his lower legs. Bandages were wrapped around both of his lower arms, wrapped all the way down to his hands. She turned her head slightly to see Tarek's expression only to frown slightly as she noticed he had his sunglasses back on, hiding his eyes from view. She did notice however that one of his eyebrows were arched as her eccentric teammate closed in on them.

"Hi Lee…what brings you here?" Tenten asked weakly bringing her attention back to her teammate as he stopped in front of her, a wide smile on his face.

"Gai-Sensei has called a team meeting. He asked me to come get you as fast as I could, or I would have to run around Konoha five hundred times on my hands." Lee said happily, doing his 'Nice Guy pose'.

Tenten sighed knowing that he was serious. She glanced in Tarek's direction and burst out laughing as she noticed Tarek's bewildered expression his mouth wide open in disbelief. Tenten's laughter brought Lee's attention to Tarek. He began to scrutinize him carefully taking in Tarek's appearance. His gaze slowly fell to the sword in Tarek's hand and just as slowly worked its way up to Tarek's face. Tarek arched an eyebrow and returned the stare silently, studying him just as intently. Finally noticing the silence between the two boys, Tenten abruptly broke off her laughter and switched her gaze between the two, concern evident in her eyes. Afraid at what the two may do, Tenten made a move to get in between them both. She stopped abruptly however when Lee held his hand out, his serious expression softening to a grin.

"I am Rock Lee, Tenten's teammate; it is very nice to meet you."

Tarek grinned and took Lee's hand, shaking it. "It's Nice to meet you too Lee, name's Tarek, Tarek Swordstalker."

"So, do you know how to use that sword Tarek?" Lee asked casually after a few moments, letting go of Tarek's hand in the process.

"Why don't you be the judge of that?" Tarek replied, his grin widening.

Before Lee could enthusiastically reply and take up Tarek's challenge, Tenten grabbed both boys' by the ear and pulled them both down to her height since they were both taller than her. She gave them both an angry glare, ignoring their cries of protest.

"You two had me thinking you were both going to break out into a fight or something at any moment!" She yelled angrily in both their ears. After spending five minutes of constantly apologizing to her, Tenten finally let both boys' ears go.

_Remind me to never anger her _Tarek thought frowning as he rubbed his ear.

Tenten suddenly gasped and ran over to her torn weapon scrolls. She rolled the two halves of each scroll up together and then placed them in the two holsters behind her back. She then grabbed Lee's arm pulling him away despite his protests. She pulled her Chakra enhanced Katana out of the ground and continued to drag Lee away.

"Were late for the team meeting, damn it Lee! You have to stop challenging every new person you meet!"

Tarek just looked at her dumbfounded.

_Isn't that what she did when she met me?_ He thought.

Tenten suddenly turned around letting go of Lee's arm in the process and glanced back at Tarek giving him a warm smile.

"It was very nice to meet you Tarek; maybe we could train together sometime."

Tarek's heart rate suddenly quickened at the prospect of training with Tenten, and he spoke before he could stop himself.

"How does tomorrow sound?" He asked eagerly.

Tenten pondered that a few moments, before finally nodding, her smile widening. "Ok I'll meet you here at the same time tomorrow then." Then with a wave of her hand, Tenten grabbed Lee's arm and pulled him away in the direction Lee had come, stopping Lee from saying his farewell's to Tarek. Tarek watched them walk away until they were both out of sight, then sighing happily, Tarek made his way past the weapons littered across the training ground and picked up the scabbard for Blazing Phoenix which he had left under the tree during the fight. He cleaned the blade silently then slid it back into its scabbard. He then mentally called for his Grandfather.

"_**Well you handled that quite well I must say, though you shouldn't have dropped your guard when you knew she still had a kunai in her hand**_"Raven replied in a tone that suggested he was ready to give Tarek a lecture. Tarek glared at his grandfather with his minds eye as he drabbled on and on about how he shouldn't let his guard down. After about five minutes of lecturing, Raven noticed Tarek's glare and gave him a confused glance.

"_**What?**_"Raven asked puzzled.

_Why didn't you answer me when I called to you for an excuse?__ You're the one after all who keeps reminding me daily to keep the Silver sword a secret. _Tarek questioned his grandfather while he still glared at him.

Raven snorted "_**I thought you would use your intuition and just call it a Bloodline limit, after all no one knows why the Swordstalkers were such a prominent clan except for a few people who were trusted with our secret.**_"

_You could have suggested that to me in the first place and stopped her from getting so suspicious! _Tarek exclaimed, his temper simmering.

Raven remained silent a few moments before finally replying. "_**While that is a fair point, I honestly don't think it matters if she knows about the secret of the Silver sword.**_" Raven said with a serious tone.

Tarek's anger was suddenly replaced by puzzlement. _What do you mean grandfather?_

"_**Ahh…Never mind, call it the ramblings of an old man, anyway training is finished for the day since your low on chakra. Let's head home.**_" Before Tarek could say anything, Raven cut off their mental link. Puzzled over what his grandfather had meant Tarek began the long walk back to the apartment he lived in with Naruto.

Meanwhile, in the Silver sword training hall, Raven paced around the area, lost in thought about the girl Tarek had fought. Unlike his grandson, Raven wasn't blind to the feelings Tarek had been feeling for the girl, and he was currently contemplating about the possibilities.

_Hmmm…Tenten Agraweh, an interesting girl indeed_ Raven thought as he continued to pace the hall.

* * *

Naruto focused chakra into his feet and then began running towards a fairly tall tree with numerous slash marks on it. He placed one foot on the tree and then the other, continuing to run up the tree trunk. He got about halfway before he felt his control slipping. He quickly slashed the point he had reached with his kunai and then leaped off of the tree landing back to the ground. Wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his jump suit, Naruto measured the distance between the new slash mark and the previous one. He smiled with satisfaction as he realized he had gotten at least six inches further up the tree. The tree climbing exercise was indeed tough but he figured that he had made a lot of progress. Remembering his first few attempts at the exercise, Naruto couldn't help but wince and rub the back of his head where he had landed when his chakra imbued feet failed to stick him to the tree.

_I have made a lot of progress _Naruto thought proudly. As his gaze left the tree to look around the rest of the training ground, he did a double take as he realized it was the dead of night.

"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed.

Picking up the scroll for the Burning Rave jutsu, Naruto dashed off into the night, heading back to the apartment he lived in with Tarek.

* * *

Tenten slammed the door shut and let out an angry huff. She stormed past her mother who had come to greet her and rushed upstairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

_Damn it, why does Neji have to be such an asshole! _Tenten thought angrily as she threw herself onto her bed. She thought about what he had said to her after mentioning her new friend Tarek to him.

_Flashback_

"…_and that concludes our youthful meeting! You are now free to do whatever your fiery passions desire!" Might Guy exclaimed to his Genin cell, going into a 'nice guy' pose. Tenten just sighed at her sensei's antics and turned her head to glance at her two other team mates. Lee was enthusiastically bouncing on the balls of his feet exclaiming about the 'Fires of Youth' trash that their sensei had brainwashed him with. Her gaze then shifted to the other boy sitting on her left. Neji Hyuuga just sat staring stoically into the distance, not even paying any attention to Lee and Guy's antics. She studied Neji's figure, taking in the grey shirt with buckles, the standard ninja shorts and the bandage wrapped around his entire right leg._

"_Is there something wrong Tenten?" Neji asked quietly, not even turning his head to look at her. Embarrassed at being caught staring at him, Tenten looked away, blushing furiously._

"_N-nothing, nothing at all." Tenten replied, mentally cursing her slight stutter._

_Neji remained silent a few moments before finally turning his head to gaze at Tenten. Tenten felt her heart flutter in her chest as she looked upon the face of the boy she had developed a crush on. He had the white pupiless eyes of the Hyuuga clan, though if you looked closer you could see the slight blue tint to them. His long black hair was held away from his face by the Konoha forehead protector wrapped around his forehead. She was so captivated by his face that she completely missed what Neji had asked her and only pulled herself out of her reverie when Neji waved his hand in front of her face._

"_What?" Tenten said quite stupidly._

_Neji sighed irritably and proceeded to pose his question once more "I asked you what you were up to when Lee went to get you. Your appearance suggests you were in a fight of some sort." He stated a measure of what she hoped was concern in his tone of voice._

"_Uh…Well yes I was in a fight, I challenged this rookie Genin named Tarek to a fight, and he accepted. It was one of the most intense battles I have ever fought, he…" She trailed off as she saw the expression on Neji's face. Those of the Hyuuga clan were famous for their stoic expressions which could strike fear in to the enemy's heart. However, that stoic expression was nothing compared to an angry Hyuuga's glare, and at that very moment, Tenten was at the receiving end of Neji Hyuuga's glare. It absolutely terrified her._

"_Was this Tarek's last name Swordstalker?" Neji asked coldly._

_Tenten could only nod, having lost the will to speak under that glare. She had never seen this side of Neji before, and his anger only seemed to deepen as he got confirmation of Tarek's last name. Then as abruptly as his anger had come, his expression returned to its stoic visage. He turned his back to Tenten and began to walk away. After a few steps he stopped._

"_You would do well Tenten to stay away from weaklings like Tarek Swordstalker, for his destiny is to fail and remain weak. That is his place in life, and you only lower yourself to his level by being around him." He told her coldly before he continued his walk away from his team._

_Tenten stood there in shock, Neji's words repeating over and over again in her head. She continued to watch his retreating back, not noticing Lee and Guy staring at her, their expressions grave. Once Neji was had disappeared from sight, Tenten's shock suddenly turned into a simmering rage. Tenten turned on her heel and ran in the direction of the Training Ground where she had met Tarek. She needed to take her anger out on something, and the training posts there would suffice._

_End of Flashback_

Tears flowing down her face, Tenten sat up on her bed and opened her fists looking at her bruised and bloody palms. She had stayed at that Training Ground beating on the Training posts for so long that it had turned to the dead of night. She would have stayed there longer had it not been for the fact that her parents would have worried about her. Though her palms burned with pain, it was nothing like the pain that was burning her heart.

_Why? _She thought. _Why must I always sacrifice something to please him?!_ _It has always been the same ever since we became team mates. Now he expects me to sacrifice a possible close friendship with a nice guy like Tarek all because he is too 'weak' in Neji's eyes?_ She lowered her head into her palms and sobbed quietly, tears of frustration and hurt flowing down her face stinging her injured palms.

_No more_ she thought as she cried. _No more…I won't do it, not anymore.

* * *

_

Naruto ran up the stairs that led up to his apartment, grabbing his keys from his pocket and stuffing the Burning Rave jutsu scroll into the same pocket he had pulled the keys out of. He put his key into the lock and opened the door, apologising before it even fully opened.

"Sorry Tarek, I kind of lost track of time, I…" He suddenly trailed off as he saw the look of mischief on Tarek's face.

_Oh hell no, I hate that look! _Naruto thought as he turned around to head back out the door, only to be yanked through the doorway as Tarek grabbed Naruto's jump suit collar and started dragging him inside, closing the door with Blazing Phoenix's scabbard. Finally stopping at the kitchen table, Tarek pulled out a chair, again using Blazing Phoenix's scabbard, and plopped Naruto down in it. He then went over to the chair on the opposite side and pulled it out, sitting down and placing Blazing Phoenix on the table. He stared at Naruto with a big grin on his face, his silver eyes clearly visible. It was clear to Naruto that he wasn't going anywhere until Tarek got what he wanted.

_Question is what the hell does he want? _Naruto thought.

"So Naruto, why don't you tell me all about what happened between you and Hinata earlier" Tarek stated in a tone of voice that suggested he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Naruto just looked at Tarek, a confused expression etched on his face. "What are you talking about?" He asked puzzled.

"Oh come on Naruto, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Tarek replied.

"I honestly don't know what you are talking about Tarek, what happened between me and Hinata earlier?"

Tarek just stared at him in disbelief. "Oh well let's see, the fact that I caught you nearly kissing Hinata might have something to do with it." Tarek replied in an irritated tone of voice.

Naruto's face instantly turned bright red. "What the hell are you talking about I wasn't trying to kiss her!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, could you say that a bit louder this time, I don't think the people near the south end of town heard you." Tarek said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Naruto's eye's narrowed and he crossed his arms. "I did not try to kiss Hinata alright she…had something on her face that's all!" Naruto replied calmer than he did before, though the furious blush was still evident on his face.

Tarek rolled his eyes "Right, something on her face. What do you think I am, an idiot?!" Tarek snapped.

Naruto's eye's narrowed "I told you nothing happened between us, now just drop it!" Naruto snapped back at Tarek. Ignoring Tarek's scowl, Naruto stood up and left the table, making his way to the Kitchen. As he was reaching into the cupboard to pull out some instant Ramen, he heard Tarek walk into the kitchen.

"Naruto why can't you just admit that you were going to kiss Hinata and that you have feelings for her?" Tarek demanded bluntly.

Naruto slammed his Instant Ramen container down on the counter and spun to face a glaring Tarek with a glare of his own.

"Why can't you just drop it Tarek?!" Naruto replied his voice rising.

This didn't faze Tarek at all "You have feelings for her Naruto that has been plainly obvious since we first met her, and if you think about it, I'm sure you will realize that Hinata feels the same way, so why are you trying to deny it?!"

Naruto's temper snapped. He rushed forward and grabbed Tarek by the scruff, lifting him slightly off of his feet.

"I can't have feelings for her alright, not now not ever!" Naruto roared.

"Why the hell not Naruto?!" Tarek replied unfazed, raising his own voice.

"Because of the Kyuubi you dumbass, because I am the container of the Kyuubi" Naruto answered, his anger suddenly abating. He slowly lowered Tarek to the floor and let go of him, turning his back to him. There was silence for a few moments as Tarek stared at Naruto's back, digesting what he said. Finally, Tarek took a step towards Naruto, standing by his side.

"What has the Kyuubi got to do with anything Naruto?" Tarek asked puzzled.

He regretted asking the question as soon as he saw the look on Naruto's face. His expression had changed from melancholy to anger in a second.

"The Kyuubi has everything to do with it Tarek. Don't you see?! If I admit my feelings for Hinata and it gets out, she will suffer everything we have had to suffer with since we were old enough to walk. Hell, if she finds out about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of me, she will grow to fear and hate me just like the other villagers do. I can't lose that friendship, I can't lose her." Naruto yelled desperately, waving his arms about and finally ending with a whisper.

Tarek gazed at him for a few moments before snorting in disgust. "Naruto, firstly, do you really think Hinata would care about what the villagers think, secondly, how can you believe Hinata will hate you for carrying that demon when she didn't react like the villagers do when they see my eyes?" Tarek demanded pointing at said-eyes.

Naruto's scowl suddenly returned and he glared at Tarek. "Have you told Hinata about your grandfather and the Silver sword?" He asked angrily.

Tarek's frown deepened. "Well no but that's-"

"Don't say it's different Tarek, it's the same thing!" Naruto snapped.

Tarek stared at Naruto for a few moments, sorting out his thoughts before speaking once more.

"Naruto, the only reason I haven't told Hinata is not because I'm afraid of her reaction, nor is it because I don't trust her. The reason I haven't told her is because I don't want to put her into any danger from the knowledge. What do you think would happen if someone finds out she knows the whereabouts of the Silver sword? There are enough legends about it that some will truly believe it exists. They would use her to get at me, and I can't allow that, she's like a little sister to me." Tarek said quietly.

Naruto digested that for a few moments before finally nodding. "Ok I see your point as far as you are concerned. But that just gives me more reasons over why I cannot admit my feelings for her."

Tarek sighed irritably. "Naruto, if you don't tell her how you truly feel, you will only end up hurting her. At the moment, because of that near-kiss, Hinata's hopes of being with you have risen. If you suddenly do a turn around and act like nothing ever happened between you both it will hurt her deeply. Do you really want to do that?" Tarek asked never taking his gaze from Naruto.

Naruto stood there his head bowed, his fists clenched and his eyes closed. After a few moments of silence, Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

"No Tarek…I don't want to do that…" He said quietly.

Tarek nodded his head in approval. "Then you know what you have to do right?" Tarek asked already knowing the answer and smiling happily.

Naruto looked up at Tarek and then gave him a foxy grin before giving his reply

"Yes, I know what to do."

* * *

Kurenai leaned against the middle Training Post of Training Ground 8 waiting for her Genin cell to arrive. She had arrived at the Training Ground half an hour early so that she could go over the files of each Genin. She was looking over Tarek's file and his had to be the most mysterious of them all.

_How is it possible for someone to have an unknown Sword fighting style when they must have learnt Sword fighting from someone within Konoha? And how can someone's jutsu list be under 'constant update'? _Kurenai thought to herself completely baffled. Closing the file up, Kurenai did a single hand seal and the file disappeared. A few moments later, Kurenai could see both Hinata and Shino walking towards her.

_Hmmm…They are here at the appointed time, now where are Tarek and Naruto?_ She thought.

"About time they arrived, man I was getting bored of waiting." A familiar voice said from behind her.

Kurenai's eyes widened as she turned to look behind the training post. Standing there were Tarek and Naruto, both with wide grins on their faces.

_How did those two get behind me and how long have they been there?! _Kurenai thought in astonishment. After a moment of contemplating it Kurenai decided it was something that could wait until later. She waited until Hinata and Shino reached them before explaining the exercise.

"Ok, now that we are all here I'll explain what we will be doing today. The purpose of this exercise is to test your capabilities as Ninja, to see if you are really ready for the title of Genin. Does anyone have any questions before I explain your objectives?" Kurenai waited a few moments but no questions were forthcoming. She took the time to study each Genin's face to see any signs of faltering. Shino she noticed was completely stoic, seemingly unaffected by her words. Tarek and Naruto both had determined expressions on their faces, with no signs of faltering. Hinata however had a worried expression on her face. Kurenai frowned at this. _If she passes this test, I am going to have to really work on her self-confidence._ She thought.

"Ok, the objective of this exercise is to track me down and then to take this red scroll from me." She held up the red scroll for all of them to see.

"You may use any means necessary to take the scroll off of me but remember this. You must come at me with the intent to kill." She waited a moment for that to sink in before continuing.

"Do have any questions about the objectives?" Kurenai asked.

Predictably Hinata's hand rose. "Um…s-sensei, a-are you sure that w-we must c-come at you w-with the i-intent to k-kill." She asked quietly.

Kurenai stared at her for a few moments before finally answering. "Yes Hinata, if you come at me any less, then you will definitely fail this exercise." Kurenai stated in a kind tone.

Hinata nodded before lowering her hand. Naruto suddenly moved towards her and put his hand on her shoulder. He lowered his head and whispered something into her ear. Hinata's eyes suddenly widened and the blush she already had from Naruto standing close to her deepened. However, Kurenai noticed immediately that the look in her eyes was replaced with determination. Whatever Naruto had said had obviously raised her self-confidence. Naruto took a step back and gave her a foxy grin before turning to face Kurenai.

"Ok then you have three hours to complete this exercise, and it starts now!" Kurenai stated getting into a ready stance. When Kurenai looked back on that day, she would admit that it probably would have been a better idea to have cast a Genjutsu to get away.

Tarek drew Blazing Phoenix from the scabbard on his back so quickly that he was just a blur of motion. Naruto moved equally fast pulling out two Kunai from the pouch on his belt and tossing them at her. Kurenai easily dodged them but soon realised that had been exactly what Naruto wanted when she heard the sound of a sword being thrust into the ground.

"**Sword Art: Climhazzard!**"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Also I was wondering if anyone may be interested in making a fan art drawing of Tarek Swordstalker and Raven Swordstalker. Please let me know.**


	7. Chapter 6

******Hey everyone, welcome back to the Wielder and the Container. First let me say how sorry I am that it has taken me so long to post another chapter...about three-four years. Let me explain, first, I had a problem coming up with a unique way to do Kurenai's Genin test. I started one, but it was terrible (at least to me anyway) So I started again. But then I hit a Writers Block, so I left it for a bit. In the end I said to hell with it, and just wrote what I thought. Then I hit another Writers Block, and got crazed with Dissidia, so I tried to do my own fic for that. BUt then that fell through. Then I began University and just didnt have much time to write. Then I started playing Dragon Age: Origins which I was crazed on. Then I started dating my best female friend, and we've been happily together for the last 18 months :-). So all in all, I was pretty distracted. I decided to push past my Writers block today, and I managed to complete this chapter...finally. So here it is, I hope you guys like it, despite the fact that my writing style has probably changed. Also, Im not going to say when the next chapter is due, since I simply do not know, and I dont want to make false promises. Anyway Enjoy!**

**EDIT****: Due to complaint about the battle scene, I decided to change it to the battle actually happening rather than a Flashback. Thanks DragonMan180 for taking the time to point out the flaw with it being mostly a flashback chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"**Sword Art: Climhazzard!**"

Spinning around, Kurenai's eye's widened and her face paled as she saw the destructive line of chakra coming towards her. Acting quickly, Kurenai dived to her left, the line of chakra narrowly avoiding her. Kurenai rolled then leaped to her feet only to be sent flying backwards several feet by the spinning side-kick Naruto had used, the wind being knocked out of her when the kick contacted with her stomach. Quickly recovering, Kurenai righted herself then used her feet and her left hand to slowly skid to a stop, cursing under her breath as she did so.

_Get your shit together Kurenai, they may be Genin, but you shouldn't underestimate them because of that._ Kurenai thought, mentally chastising herself.

She quickly looked up and noticed Naruto rushing towards her. Ready for him this time, Kurenai blocked the punch he threw at her and then ducked the spinning kick he sent to her head. She then countered with a punch to Naruto's gut, knocking the wind out of him and a punch to his face, knocking him to the ground. She paused as the downed Naruto suddenly smirked, wondering what he was so smug about only to stare in shock as his body burst into a cloud of smoke.

_A Shadow Clone? How could he have learned such an advanced jutsu, and when did he perform it?_ Kurenai thought with bewilderment. However, she had no more time to think as Tarek suddenly spun over the cloud of smoke, Blazing Phoenix in his right hand. Kurenai jumped backwards, the spinning Katana narrowly avoiding her. Her eyes widened as Blazing Phoenix struck the ground, several cracks branching from the spot Tarek had struck. Tarek recovered quickly and rushed towards her, Blazing Phoenix held in a reverse grip with both hands. Kurenai again jumped backwards quickly as Tarek swung the Katana in an upwards arc. However Tarek wasn't finished as he followed Blazing Phoenixes arc, and spun 360 degrees following through with a stab to her stomach. Kurenai, not expecting this, and having no time to dodge quickly performed the replacement technique, replacing her with a log in the forestry nearby. She watched, hidden behind a tree, as Tarek stabbed the log she had used as a replacement. She heard him curse and look widely around the area for her. Taking a deep breath, and thinking she could finally counter attack, Kurenai began performing hand seals, only to be interrupted by something smashing into the back of her head. Dazed, Kurenai hit the ground face-first. After a few moments, she shakily got to her feet and turned to see Naruto swinging from the branch above her head. Smirking, Naruto let go of the branch and quickly rushed towards her. Sick of being kicked around like a ball, Kurenai sidestepped Naruto's flying kick and sent a reverse leg swing kick to the back of Naruto's head, only to growl in frustration as the contact destroyed another shadow clone. Hearing a rustle from the tree in front of her, Kurenai looked up to see four Naruto's falling towards her. Kurenai quickly performed three hand-signs and disappeared from the four Naruto's sight in a storm of cherry blossoms.

"Huh? Where did she go?" two of the Naruto's asked as they looked widely around for her, only for the four to suddenly be ensnared by roots rising out of the ground. The roots quickly became tree branches as the four were held up by four trees.

"What the hell is this?" The four Naruto's yelled at the same time, the shout ringing in Kurenai's ears as she reappeared in front of them.

"**Demon Illusionary Jutsu: Demon Tree**_" _Kurenai answered calmly. "A Genjutsu that ensnares the opponent, perfect for assassinations."

Kurenai then looked at each struggling Naruto in turn before speaking once more.

"Tarek and yourself did very well, your teamwork was flawless, and your Taijutsu is excellent, better than I expected from a Rookie Genin. However, beating me to the ground isn't going to get you the scroll."

Plus they both have yet to enlist the aid of Hinata and Shino. Kurenai thought to herself.

Kurenai then turned to walk away only to stop at the sound of laughter. She turned around and noticed the Naruto to the far left laughing with his eyes closed. His eyes then suddenly snapped open and he stopped laughing. He gave her a foxy grin and his eyes glinted with a shine that suddenly made Kurenai very nervous.

"One word sensei…Boom." Naruto said in a voice that only made Kurenai even more nervous. Suddenly the four Naruto's went rigid and all shouted "Release!" at the same time. Kurenai went hurtling out of the forestry as the four Naruto's exploded. She crashed in to the middle of the Training field, her body aching all over from being caught in the blast radius of four exploding Shadow clones. Luckily, she had been at the edge of the blast radius, so the most she was going to get was heavy bruising. After a few moments Kurenai finally recovered enough to get back to her feet. She looked around the area, checking for any signs of her students. After seeing no sign of them, Kurenai sighed and pulled out a soldier pill, a pill used to restore the energy of a person. She popped it into her mouth and waited for the pill to take effect. Truth be told, the beating she had received from Tarek's and especially Naruto's attacks had left her tired, and she didn't know how much more she could take without more energy. Kurenai closed her eyes and waited a few moments, but frowned when she didn't feel the Soldier Pill taking effect.

_It should have taken effect by now why-_ She was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt a presence behind her. Kurenai ducked and watched as Hinata flew past her, landing gracefully on her feet and turning to face Kurenai. She slowly got into the Jyuuken stance and activated her blood limit, the Byakugan. This was a different Hinata than the one Kurenai was used to seeing. This Hinata had a look of unbreakable resolve on her face, and Kurenai knew she was in for a tough time.

_This just really isn't my day…_Kurenai thought ruefully as Hinata rushed forwards and tried to strike her with an open palm to Kurenai's stomach. Kurenai jumped back and retaliated with a swing kick to Hinata's head. She watched in astonishment as Hinata just leaned backwards, the kick flying over her.

She's very flexible. Kurenai noted, blocking Hinata's counter attack, being careful not to let Hinata's palm contact her body at all. Hinata threw her other palm at Kurenai's chest, but Kurenai grabbed the girls arm tightly. Realising she was not getting out of Kurenai's hold, Hinata arched her body backwards and sent a spinning kick to Kurenai's head. Not expecting it, Kurenai was sent hurtling to her left. She was sent hurtling back in the same direction she had come however when she felt something painful connect with her back. She hit the ground with a thud, but amazed herself when she managed to get back on her feet once more. She turned and looked in the direction she had come and saw Naruto walking towards Hinata, that famous foxy grin of his on his face. Hinata blushed briefly as Naruto stopped beside her but was able to control it, her expression returning to its former resolve. They both settled into their combat stances, and Kurenai gave a start as she recognised Naruto's Taijutsu stance.

_He was taught by Kakashi? That wasn't in his file!_ Kurenai thought as she mentally cursed the Cyclops Jounin.

"**Sword Art Element: Flametongue!**"

Startled, Kurenai acted on pure reflex as she dived to her right, avoiding Tarek's downward slash. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Blazing Phoenixes blade completely covered with fire. Tarek stood up from his crouch and faced her; his heavily tinted sunglasses were off, showing Tarek's Shimmering Silver eyes. She had been told about them, but she had never seen them until now, and she couldn't see how anyone could be repulsed by them. Pushing away the surge of anger she felt at the Villagers, Kurenai assessed the situation quickly. It didn't look good for her. She realised now that the three had been working together throughout the entire test, Naruto acting as a distraction when the test first began to give Tarek openings to attack her. She was sure that if her skills had been any less than they were, she would have lost, or even worse, she could have been killed. When she was in the forestry, Hinata must have told Naruto where she was with her Byakugan, and then Naruto proceeded to send his Shadow clones in after her. Then a few moments ago, Hinata and Naruto had worked together to subdue her, to give Tarek enough time to come at her. The three worked together perfectly, and she now could see the wisdom the third Hokage and Iruka had shown by putting the three together. The one thing she was worried about however was that Shino had yet to make an appearance. She had no time to consider the thought further however, as Hinata and Naruto were rushing towards her. Naruto reached her first, with the intent of using a clothesline on her, however, Kurenai grabbed his right arm and threw him to her right, and then did a reverse leg swing kick while his back was turned sending him face first to the ground. She noted with satisfaction that it was the real Naruto since he didn't burst in a cloud of smoke. She turned her head back and ducked Hinata's palm strike throwing a quick punch into the Hyuuga girl's stomach, winding Hinata. Then while Hinata was bent down, gasping for air, Kurenai proceeded to kick her in the head, sending Hinata reeling backwards. Kurenai couldn't help but feel a little guilty for doing such a harsh move to Hinata but knew it was better this way. Kurenai turned only to get kicked in the face by Tarek, followed quickly by a downward slash from Blazing Phoenix. Too dazed, to do anything, Blazing Phoenix cut open her left shoulder. Kurenai hissed in pain as she felt the wound sting and burn at the same time. She realised with agonising clarity that her shoulder was on fire and rolled to put the fire out. Once it was out, Kurenai got back to her feet and barely jumped back from Tarek's next strike, only to hiss in pain again as she felt a burn developing on her stomach. She realised that she could not let that sword near her at all while the fire was surrounding the blade and began doing hand seals for the Genjutsu she used on the Naruto clones only to suddenly realise she didn't have enough chakra to use it.

_What? But I took a Soldier Pill earlier; I should have plenty of Chakra!_ Kurenai mentally yelled. She saw Tarek rushing towards her again and tried to move back only to realise she couldn't move.

_What?_ She thought in shock looking down at her legs. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the black swarm of what could only be insects quickly covering her legs.

"Give up sensei, there's nothing you can do now." A familiar voice said to her left. She looked in that direction and saw Shino walking calmly towards her, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, there's nothing you can do now." A voice she recognised as Naruto's said from behind her, the cold steel of a Kunai being placed against her side. She looked in front and saw Tarek and Hinata standing in front of her, Tarek with Blazing Phoenix pointing towards her, the fire surrounding the blade slowly fading. It was then she realised that the four had worked together throughout the whole test. Sometime, probably during the beginning of the test, Shino had placed some of his chakra absorbing bugs on her, which explained why the Soldier Pill hadn't worked. The bugs also acted as a beacon for Shino, so with both Hinata and Shino both tracking her, it was easy for Naruto to track her while she was in the forest. Then Shino must have placed his bugs on the ground near her while she was putting out the fire on her shoulder from Tarek's sword. Naruto and Hinata had earlier served as distractions so that Tarek could gain an opening. Kurenai couldn't help but smile slightly with pride. She had a Genin team that had understood the concept of the test immediately.

_If they were able to beat me now using their Teamwork, what would they be like with even more training?_ Kurenai wondered mentally.

"Hinata, would you do the honours?" A grinning Tarek asked her, indicating Kurenai with Blazing Phoenix. Hinata blushed slightly but smiled and nodded, walking towards Kurenai. She stopped directly in front of her then bowed slightly.

"E-Excuse me." Hinata stuttered shyly as she reached into Kurenai's pocket and pulled out the red scroll. Kurenai sighed ruefully then looked at Hinata and smiled.

"Alright…congratulations Team 8, you passed the Test. You all understood the point behind the test, which is Teamwork. Just remember this; Ninjas who break the rules are called scum-"

"But those who don't take care of their friends are even worse than scum." Naruto and Tarek interrupted quietly, finishing the quote.

Kurenai nodded in satisfaction. Obviously Kakashi had drilled the quote his long-dead team mate Obito Uchiha had told him into them.

"Remember those words always. Again congratulations Team 8, you are now officially a Genin cell, and we begin Missions tomorrow." Kurenai said with a proud smile.

She felt the Kunai against her side being removed as Naruto whooped for Joy, running over to Tarek and Hinata. Tarek was smiling widely as he cleaned his sword and put it back into the Scabbard on his back. Both he and Naruto high-fived each other, and Tarek turned to Shino who was recalling the bugs from Kurenai's legs. She watched as Tarek's smile immediately dropped and his hand went to his face, feeling for his glasses.

Cursing quietly, Tarek stared at Shino with a stoic expression on his face. Shino stared at Tarek for a few moments before walking towards him. Tarek tensed up, as if expecting a blow of some kind. Shino stopped in front of Tarek, stared directly into his eyes, and then held his hand out. Tarek, startled at first just looked at Shino's hand. Then slowly and hesitantly, took it into his hand. Shino shook it, nodded to Tarek then moved over to Naruto and Hinata, the two whom were holding each other in a tight embrace, laughing with joy. Kurenai then noticed Naruto's mischievous look in his eye and he suddenly picked Hinata up and spun around on the spot.

"Naruto!" Hinata gasped as he spun her around.

Kurenai smiled and made to move towards them when suddenly her vision went blurry. As her vision darkened she heard Tarek shout "Kurenai-sensei!" before darkness took her.

* * *

Kurenai glared at her best friend and fellow Jounin, Anko Mitarashi as she burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"This isn't funny Anko!" Kurenai snapped.

"Ha! Not funny? It's absolutely fucking hilarious! Kurenai Yuhi, the Genjutsu mistress of Konoha, had her ass kicked by four rookie Genin!" Anko managed to say before breaking out into laughter once more.

Kurenai groaned and covered her face in embarrassment, her mind drifting back to earlier that morning, to the test which had led her to her current predicament. She hated to admit it…but she had completely underestimated her Genin team. If word got out about this, she'd be the laughing stock of the village!

Kurenai lifted her head from her hands and glanced around the room she was in with distaste. After she had collapsed, her Genin cell had quickly rushed her to the hospital. It turned out she had passed out from a combination of her injuries and Chakra exhaustion. From the test, Kurenai was suffering with a third degree burn on her left shoulder as well as a deep cut, a second degree burn on her stomach, a small concussion and heavy bruising. The Doctors and Nurses were baffled at how she could have received such extensive injuries from a simple Genin test, and found it hard to believe that a Jounin was beaten _this _badly by four Genin.

Kurenai's thoughts suddenly froze as she heard Anko say something she dreaded.

"What?"

Oblivious to Kurenai's ominous tone, Anko repeated what she said.

"I said just wait until I tell Asuma! I can't wait to see his face when he finds out about this!" She chortled.

Suddenly Anko stopped laughing, becoming very aware of a massive killing intent leaking from the person next to her. She turned her head slowly to face Kurenai, whose hair covered her face in a very ominous way.

"Asuma isn't going to find out about any of this, right Anko?" She said in a deceptively calm voice.

Now there is very little in this world that could scare Anko…having been the student of the traitorous Snake Sannin Orochimaru tended to harden one against many things that 'normal' people would fear. However, of the few things that could scare her, Kurenai in this mood was one of them.

"O-of course Kurenai…I-I was only teasing, Asuma won't find out about this. In fact, I don't even remember why you're in the hospital at all!" Anko said waving her arms about in an erratic manner and backing away from Kurenai's bed slowly.

Kurenai, unnoticeable by Anko, smirked slightly as she saw the fear in her friends face. She would never admit it, but she really enjoyed scaring her rather sadistic friend. Plus it had the positive effect of reigning Anko in when she was in her more…'excited' moments.

Kurenai's inner musing was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Turning to see who it was, she suddenly stiffened as the Third Hokage entered the ward, Kakashi casually following behind him.

"Lord Hok-" Kurenai started as she tried to stand to attention.

Chuckling, the Third Hokage raised his hand. "It's alright Kurenai, be at ease…No need for formalities" he said with a smile.

"A certain blonde told us that you were in the hospital…and that you and I quote 'Got your ass whooped by the best Genin team in the history of Konoha!'" Kakashi said, struggling to hold back his laughter.

Scowling, Kurenai decided then and there that Naruto was going to receive some personal Genjutsu training…the fact that it was his weakest ninja field only gave her a good excuse.

_Yes…poor Naruto won't know what hit him _Kurenai thought as she cackled mentally. Glaring at Kakashi, she asked "Why wasn't I told that Naruto has received training from you?"

He shrugged "You never asked?"

_He shall feel my wrath!_ Kurenai mentally yelled. Physically, she just smiled sweetly and clenched her fists ever so slightly.

"Kakashi is Naruto and Tarek's official guardian. In his spare time, he trains them. Although, since he has a Genin team now, it will be left to you to train them Kurenai."

Kurenai sighed and put her fingers on her head. _I didn't think to check who their Guardian was…I just assumed the Hokage was like all orphans._

Anko stood up and yawned "I still have trouble getting over the fact that Kurenai got beat by a team of Genin. Ok sure, the Swordstalker and Aburame brats would be a challenge, even at Genin lev-"

"Tarek and Naruto aren't Genin level." Kakashi interrupted.

This made Anko and Kurenai pause. Eventually, Anko demanded what he meant.

"He means" The Third said slowly "That Tarek and Naruto, through training received from Kakashi, are at mid Chunin level in skills. As far as Chakra is concerned, Tarek has the level of a high Chunin, while Naruto…well let's just say that Naruto has more chakra than a high Jounin, but only slightly less than I did in my prime as Hokage."

Stunned, Kurenai and Anko could only stare in shock. Tarek's level was unusual for a fresh Genin, yes. But Naruto…How could Naruto have such high levels of chakra?

Ignoring their reactions, the Hokage continued. "It is the reason why Naruto can't perform Genjutsu or the normal Bunshin jutsu. He just can't control all that chakra."

"Whenever he tries' to do the academy floating leaf exercise, he just ends up destroying the leaf, no matter how little chakra he uses. Tarek can perform the exercise perfectly and has a lot more chakra control, but nowhere near to the level of say Hinata." Kakashi added, as he leaned against the door.

Anko snorted. "Well that's no surprise…it's hard to match a Hyuuga in chakra control."

Kurenai nodded in agreement "I've seen evidence of Tarek's chakra control already…did you know, he can perform elemental manipulation?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi had to hold himself against the door, while the Hokage didn't show any outward reaction except for widening eyes.

"He performed a jutsu called Sword Art Element: Flametongue. I found it odd that he used it like a jutsu instead of just covering his blade in fire like Asuma does with wind manipulation…though I didn't even know that was possible with fire." Kurenai explained.

"That's because it isn't possible. Only Lightning and Wind chakra can be safely used on weapons. What Tarek used was a Swordstalker jutsu. It isn't true elemental manipulation, because the Swordstalker's could perform Sword Art Elements with no training in elemental manipulation. My theory is that the swords used by the Swordstalker's are the key to performing Sword Art Elements." The Hokage explained his surprise fading.

"Though that bring us back to the long asked question…how is Tarek performing Swordstalker jutsu? No one knows how to perform them, and they didn't leave any scrolls behind." Kakashi asked, rubbing his hair in frustration.

The Hokage said nothing as the two Jounin and Special Jounin debated over the issue. He had a suspicion on how Tarek was learning these jutsu, and the Swordstalker fighting style. However, he didn't know enough about how it was possible, and asking Tarek could prove to be a mistake. He had decided to do more research on seals, before confronting Tarek.

"As interesting as this debate is, I have many tasks to perform today, so Kurenai; I want your verdict on Team 8." The Hokage commanded.

"Yes of course Lord Hokage." She said straightening up, before adopting a formal tone.

"Kurenai Yuhi, Jounin Sensei of Team 8, declares that the Genin under her care have passed, and are ready to begin missions and official training. Each member understood the point behind the exercise, and they were able to defeat me using a well thought out plan of action." Here Kurenai blushed. "Also, I would like to note that I underestimated the team, and their abilities, and was unprepared to counter their plan. Had I been more prepared, I would not be in hospital right now, and the Genin would not have defeated me so easily. I will be sure to be more prepared in future exercises."

The Hokage nodded, as he barely held back a smile.

"Very good, I shall add Team 8 to the active Team roster. I expect a report on my desk in two days time Miss Yuhi."

"Of course Lord Hokage"

* * *

Tarek opened the door to his apartment, smiling happily. He had just spent the last four hours training with Tenten, although admittedly, they did more talking than training. Tarek wasn't afraid to admit that Tenten fascinated him, both in personality and in her skills as a Ninja. He enjoyed spending time with her and getting to know her better.

"_**It seems that my Grandson has a crush.**_"

Instantly, Tarek's smile turned to a frown as he paused in closing the door.

_I do not have a crush on her! _He yelled at his snickering Grandfather.

"_**Oh please, now who's in denial?**_" His Grandfather said pointedly referring to the talk Tarek had with Naruto yesterday.

_That was different! I barely know Tenten!_

"_**Ah Tarek…you don't yet understand that the heart is a mysterious thing. You will learn though my boy, you will learn. Now when's the wedding date? I want Grandkids!**_**"**

_Grandfather! _A blushing Tarek yelled. Ignoring his Grandfathers laughing, Tarek closed the door then made his to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He suddenly felt the need to cool down. As he was filling up a glass, Naruto came out of his room dressed in, to Tarek's surprise, jeans and an Orange t-shirt.

_I didn't know Naruto had anything other than those hideous jumpsuits in his closet. When did he get those? And why is he wearing them?_ Tarek thought as Naruto moved towards him, a nervous grin on his face.

"Hey Tarek, I'm glad your back…uh…what do you think…do you think I look good?" Naruto asked quietly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well yeah, it suits you. But why are you dressed like that?" Tarek asked, confused

Naruto mumbled something that Tarek was unable to hear which set off alarm bells in Tarek's head…Naruto never mumbled!

"Naruto, what's wrong? Why are you so nervous?" He asked concerned.

Naruto sighed, thinking that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. This was Tarek, his brother; he wouldn't make this harder than it already was when he knew how important it was to him. Naruto took a deep breath, and then gave his brother a foxy grin.

"I'm taking Hinata out on a date!"

Tarek, shocked at first, slowly smiled and patted his brother on the shoulder. "That's great Naruto! I can't believe your actually going through with it. Did you ask Hiashi's permission?"

"Of course, I did, I walked Hinata home from the Hospital remember? Actually where did you go off to after we dropped Kurenai sensei off at the hospital? You kind of took off in a hurry. Did you have more training with your Grandfather?" Naruto asked, with one eyebrow arched.

"Something like that." Tarek replied evasively, with a small grin. Naruto, obliviously nodded, then checked his watch.

"Well, I'd better go. Otherwise I'll be late meeting Hinata. Catch you later Tarek!" Naruto said as he rushed out the door.

Tarek chuckled and closed the door behind Naruto, staring at it for a few moments.

"Sweep her off her feet bro…" he whispered.

* * *

"Remind me again why we are hiking up this big ass mountain?"

The Cloud-nin sighed and glared at his team mate. "Because the Raikage received reports from the locals about strange lights appearing on this mountain yesterday, and wants us to check it out."

"Yeah, but it was probably just a small lightning storm, nothing to worry about." The complaining Cloud-nin whined.

"All the same, the Raikage thought it was worth checking out, so quit your complaining and march!" The second Cloud-nin ordered.

Grumbling under his breath the complaining Cloud-nin continued the difficult trek. For the last four hours, the duo had been searching the Raikou Mountain for any disturbances after the locals reported seeing strange lights originating from the mountain. Most wouldn't have found this all that strange, and would have passed it off as a lightning storm. However, the Raikage was a paranoid man, especially after the third Great Shinobi War, and ordered the two Chunin to check it out. So far they had found nothing, not even the strange lights that the locals had been so concerned about.

After 20 minutes, the complaining Cloud-nin sighed in annoyance. "Look there's nothing here, let's just-"

"Quiet!" The second Cloud-nin whispered harshly as he held up his hand to stop his partner.

Immediately on guard, the complaining Cloud-nin tensed as his partner scanned the area. After a few moments of nothing but silence, the second Cloud-nin relaxed.

"I could have sworn I heard some-"

Suddenly the two Cloud-nin were thrown back as a visible wave of energy appeared from ten feet in front of them. The two rolled to their feet and got into fighting stances, ready to defend themselves when they caught sight of what had appeared in front of them.

"What the hell…" The second Cloud-nin whispered as he stared in disbelief, his guard dropping.

In front of them was some kind of distorted window. It was surrounded by a blue, visible, aura and the two Cloud-nin could sense how wrong it was. Like this shouldn't exist in their world. Their instincts screamed at them to run away, but the two just couldn't pull themselves away, as they peered into the window. What they saw was chaos. Rocks floating there, in an endless void, the sky constantly shifting as huge lines of energy flew past. But that was only the background; in front of all that was a shrouded figure, shaped like a human, yet they sensed that the figure was far from human.

Finally finding the courage to speak, the complaining Cloud-nin stepped forward.

"W-who are you? Wh-what is your purpose in Lightning country!"

The figure said nothing for a few moments as it seemed to stare at the complaining Cloud-nin, when suddenly it held out its palm.

"**Ich Moi, Vickari, Sect!"** it growled out in a guttural hiss.

A ball of blood red energy formed in the figures palm, and then shot towards the complaining Cloud-nin. Unable to dodge, the ball struck the Cloud-nin and sent him flying backwards. The second Cloud-nin watched in horror, as his partner screamed and writhed, his chest disintegrating, his internal organs now visible as the energy ate away at his chest. Hearing the figure shout out the same what he thought was jutsu; the second Cloud-nin shook off his horror and spun around. Seeing the ball forming, the Cloud-nin dodged to the right then began doing hand-signs.

"**Lightning Art:** **Lightning Ball!**"

Forming a ball of Lightning in his hands, the Cloud-nin launched it at the figure. The ball of lightning nearly struck the figure, only for the figure to grab it in his palm. It then threw it back at the Cloud-nin twice as fast, where it struck him in the chest, killing him instantly. As the second Cloud-nins body shook from the effects of the Lightning jutsu, the figure stepped out of the distorted window, which was actually a planar portal. The figure walked towards the suffering Cloud-nin, whom was still alive, despite the Disintegrate spell continuing its work. The figure then pulled out a Sword of shimmering silver from underneath its cloak and stabbed the Cloud-nin in his visible heart.

"He is here." The figure hissed as it stared at the disintegrating body. "The Kalach-cha is here!"

* * *

**If anyone can guess what the figure is, then congratulations. My only hint is the place the figure came from is the Astral Plane. Also, Im changing the title to The Wielder and the Container: Genesis, since I am splitting this story into three stories. First will be Genesis, next will be either The Wielder and the Container: The Water Dragon, or Jade Empire, and lastly will be The Wielder and the Container: Shippuden, though that is subject to change. Anwyay, please leave a review, and if anyone who was reading this story previosuly is still interested, please take a look. Buh bye!**


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